Tang G, Hyman S, Schneider J H, Giannotta S L
Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles.
Neurosurgery. 1993 Mar;32(3):438-43; discussion 443. doi: 10.1227/00006123-199303000-00016.
Photodynamic therapy is a therapeutic modality long studies for its application to the treatment of malignant neoplasms. Recently, studies have suggested its potential use in the treatment of atherosclerosis. In this study, two atherosclerotic plaques were induced in the abdominal aortas of 35 rabbits. The animals then received Photofrin II (Quadralogic Technologies Inc., Pearl River, NY), a photosensitizer, at doses of 5 mg/kg and 2.5 mg/kg. After 48 hours, the plaques were irradiated by a fiberoptic connected to an argon ion laser. Fluency rates from 32 mW to 256 mW and energy doses from 1.6 to 60 joules were applied. Only one of the paired plaques was irradiated, the other remaining as a control. Four weeks after treatment, the vessels were assessed. Of 26 plaques treated with photodynamic therapy, 22 were no longer grossly visible, while the nine animals that received light irradiation but no Photofrin II all had visible plaque (P < 0.001). Studies of the vessel sections confirmed a reduction in intimal thickness from 0.74 +/- 0.15 mm in matched controls as compared with 0.51 +/- 0.13 mm in animals with treated plaques. There was a concomitant enlargement of the luminal diameter from 1.13 +/- 0.51 to 1.41 +/- 0.72. On the microscopic level, plaque reduction was most complete in the groups treated with 40 and 60 joules. Different fluency rates and drug dosages did not lead to differing outcomes. Our findings indicate that photodynamic therapy with dihematoporphyrin ether met our goal of reducing plaque size and may represent a means of treating atherosclerotic plaques.
光动力疗法是一种长期以来一直被研究用于治疗恶性肿瘤的治疗方式。最近，研究表明其在动脉粥样硬化治疗中具有潜在用途。在本研究中，在35只兔子的腹主动脉中诱导形成了两个动脉粥样硬化斑块。然后给这些动物注射光敏剂二血卟啉醚（Quadralogic Technologies Inc.，纽约州珍珠河），剂量分别为5mg/kg和2.5mg/kg。48小时后，用连接氩离子激光的光纤对斑块进行照射。施加的光通量率为32mW至256mW，能量剂量为1.6至60焦耳。仅对成对斑块中的一个进行照射，另一个作为对照。治疗四周后，对血管进行评估。在26个接受光动力治疗的斑块中，22个在大体上已不可见，而9只接受光照射但未注射二血卟啉醚的动物的斑块均可见（P<0.001）。血管切片研究证实，与有治疗斑块的动物相比，匹配对照组的内膜厚度从0.74±0.15mm减少至0.51±0.13mm。管腔直径随之从1.13±0.51增大至1.41±0.72。在显微镜水平上，用40焦耳和60焦耳治疗的组中斑块减少最为完全。不同的光通量率和药物剂量并未导致不同的结果。我们的研究结果表明，用二血卟啉醚进行光动力疗法达到了我们减少斑块大小的目标，可能代表了一种治疗动脉粥样硬化斑块的方法。
