Photodynamic and photothermal therapies for bacterial infection treatment.

Bacteria can cause numerous infectious diseases and has been a major threat to human humans. Although antibiotics have partially succeeded in treating bacteria, owing to antibiotic abuse, the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria has drastically diminished their potency. Since the invention of laser, the combination of light and photosensitizers, photodynamic therapy (PDT), has become an effective noninvasive treatment along with photothermal therapy (PTT), in which heat is generated by nonradiative relaxation. Antimicrobial PDT and PTT are emerging as effective treatments for bacterial infection, particularly against MDR bacteria. This mini review covers the recent progresses in PDT and PTT for bacterial treatment.