Effects of scavengers of reactive oxygen and radical species on cell survival following photodynamic treatment in vitro: comparison to ionizing radiation.

The effects of various scavengers of reactive oxygen and/or radical species on cell survival in vitro of EMT6 and CHO cells following photodynamic therapy (PDT) or gamma irradiation were compared. None of the agents used exhibited major direct cytotoxicity. Likewise, none interfered with cellular porphyrin uptake, and none except tryptophan altered singlet oxygen production during porphyrin illumination. The radioprotector cysteamine (MEA) was equally effective in reducing cell damage in both modalities. In part, this protection seems to have been induced by oxygen consumption in the system due to MEA autoxidation under formation of H2O2. The addition of catalase, which prevents H2O2 buildup, reduced the effect of MEA to the same extent in both treatments. Whether the remaining protection was due to MEA's radical-reducing action or some remaining oxygen limitation is unclear. The protective action of MEA was not mediated by a doubling of cellular glutathione levels, since addition of buthionine sulfoximine, which prevented glutathione increase, did not diminish the observed MEA protection. The hydroxyl radical scavenger mannitol also afforded protection in both kinds of treatment, but it was approximately twice as effective in gamma irradiation as in PDT. This is consistent with the predominant role of OH radicals in ionizing radiation damage and their presumed minor involvement in PDT damage. Superoxide dismutase, a scavenger of O2, acted as a radiation protector but was not significantly effective in PDT. Catalase, which scavenges H2O2, was ineffective in both modalities. Tryptophan, an efficient singlet oxygen scavenger, reduced cell death through PDT by several orders of magnitude while being totally ineffective in gamma irradiation. These data reaffirm the predominant role of 1O2 in the photodynamic cell killing but also indicate some involvement of free radical species.