Skin photosensitivity and photodestruction of several potential photodynamic sensitizers.

The major side effect associated with porphyrins (Photofrin II) in clinical photodynamic therapy is skin photosensitivity. In order to avoid this deleterious reaction, patients must remain out of the sunlight for approximately 1 month. A possible procedure to reduce the amount of skin photosensitivity is to photodegrade (photobleach) the compound in the skin. In this study, we report a series of experiments describing the photodegradation rates of two photosensitizers currently receiving attention due to their potential for use in PDT (mono L-aspartyl chlorin e6 and chloroaluminum sulfonated phthalocyanine). These compounds are compared to Photofrin II (PfII). Experiments consisted of determining photodegradation rates and efficiencies of the sensitizers in (i) phosphate buffered saline (PBS), (ii) PBS with fetal calf serum (to enhance absorption and simulate cellular binding or deaggregation), (iii) Chinese Hamster Ovary cells, and (iv) Balb/c mice. We performed two standardized skin sensitivity assays using the Hartely albino guinea pig irradiated with a UV blue point lamp and Balb/c mice irradiated with the therapeutic wavelength of each sensitizer. In addition, we performed a cell clonogenicity assay comparing photodegraded and fresh PfII on CHO cells. The photodegraded PfII exhibited significant phototoxicity, although the fluorescence was bleached by more than 70%. The results show that PfII causes major skin photosensitization and that the other compounds produce no substantial skin sensitivity. Our studies suggest that photodegradation of PfII with 630 nm light has little influence on the phototoxicity of the compound. In addition, skin sensitivity was not alleviated with prior photobleaching with 405 nm light.