Abstract
We suggest a novel method that uses artificial blood cells (hemoglobin vesicles, Hb-Vs) as photosensitizers in dye laser treatment (at 595-nm wavelength) for port-wine stains (i.e., capillary malformations presenting as red birthmarks) based on the results of animal experiments. As compared with human red blood cells, Hb-Vs have the same absorbance of 595 nm wavelength light and produce the same level of heat following dye laser irradiation. Small sized Hb-Vs (250 nm) distribute in the plasma phase in blood and tend to flow in the marginal zone of microvessels. Intravenous injections of Hb-Vs caused the dilatation of microvessels, and dye laser treatment with Hb-Vs destroyed the vessel wall effectively. Following the intravenous injection of Hb-Vs, the microvessels contained more Hb that absorbed laser photons and produced heat. This extra Hb tended to flow near the endothelial cells, which were the target of the laser treatment. These attributes of Hb-Vs will potentially contribute to enhancing the efficacy of dye laser treatment for port-wine stains. Hemoglobin is a type of porphyrin. Thus, our proposed treatment may have aspects of photodynamic therapy using porphyrin that leads to a cytotoxicity effect by active oxygen.
Highlights
Artificial red blood cells have been developed as an alternative to blood transfusions in order to maintain systemic circulation and oxygenation during acute hemorrhage
Some birthmarks have the appearance of the skin having been discolored by wine, the name “port-wine stain” port-wine stains (PWSs) are common capillary malformations characterized on histological examination
Alexandrite and neodymium‐doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd): YAG lasers are recommended for treating hypertrophied PWSs or resistant lesions in which the affected vessels are in deep layers, because these types of vascular-selective lasers have a high depth of penetration [7]
Summary
Artificial red blood cells have been developed as an alternative to blood transfusions in order to maintain systemic circulation and oxygenation during acute hemorrhage. We suggest a change of this recognition of the sophisticated hemoglobin vesicle (Hb-V) from oxygen carriers to photosensitizers in vessels such as photodynamic therapy. We investigated the use of Hb-Vs as photosensitizers in the dye laser treatment of port-wine stains (PWSs). We summarize our results of in vivo and in vitro experiments to measure the aptitude of Hb-V as a photosensitizer, and discuss the advantages of this method [1,2,3]
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