Psoralen photosensitization: damages to nucleic acid and membrane lipid components.

For decades the therapeutic properties of psoralens were related to their photochemical reactions with DNA and RNA. Such approach, although fruitful in treatments, did not explain satisfactorily the way of healing of the multitude of diseases manifested through skin disorders. The new research field presented in our review is directed to another target: the lipid components of the cell. The studies on the photobiology of phospholipids may help to elucidate the phototoxic and pigment inducing activity of psoralens.