Effects of Low Intensity Continuous Ultrasound (LICU) on Mouse Pancreatic Tumor Explants

Abstract

This paper describes the effects of low intensity continuous ultrasound (LICU) on the inflammatory response of mouse pancreatic tumor explants. While there are many reports focusing on the application of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on cell cultures and tissues, the effects of continuous oscillations on biological tissues have never been investigated. Here we present an exploratory study of the effects induced by LICU on mouse pancreatic tumor explants. We show that LICU causes significant upregulation of IFN-γ, IL-1β, and TNF-α on tumor explants. No detectable effects were observed on tumor vasculature or collagen I deposition, while thermal and mechanical effects were not apparent. Tumor explants responded as a single unit to acoustic waves, with spatial pressure variations smaller than their size.

Keywords

• low-intensity continuous ultrasound
• bioeffects
• inflammation
• tumor
• interferon-γ interleukins
• tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)
• collagen I
• vasculature