Published in: Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy
Authors: Luciana Betzler de Oliveira de Siqueira, Ana Paula dos Santos Matos, Marcio Robert Mattos da Silva, Suvene Rocha Pinto, Ralph Santos-Oliveira, Eduardo Ricci-Júnior
Phthalocyanines are photosensitizers activated by light at a specific wavelength in the presence of oxygen and act through the production of Reactive Oxygen Species, which simultaneously attack several biomolecular targets in the pathogen agent and, therefore, have multiple and variable action sites. This nonspecific action site bypasses conventional resistance mechanisms. Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy (aPDT) is safe, easy to implement and, unlike conventional agents, may have a wide activity spectrum of photoantimicrobials. This work is a systematic review of the literature based on nanocarriers containing phthalocyanines in a PDT against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa.
