Abstract
Tissue uptake and biodistribution of hypericin was measured in rabbits and in nu/nu mice xenografted with P3 human squamous cell carcinoma to assess the value of this dye as an in vivo sensitizer for laser photoinactivation of solid tumors. Hypericin has absorption maxima at 545 and 590 nm with a fluorescence emission peak at 640 nm in ethanol. Dye uptake after intravenous injection was tested at 4 and 24 hours in rabbit tissues by ethanol extraction and quantitative fluorescence spectrophotometry. Maximum dye levels were seen at 4 hours in most vascular organs with lung having fivefold higher uptake than spleen followed by liver, blood, and kidney. Mice were examined after 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 hours and after 3 and 7 days for dye uptake. The peak concentration of hypericin in murine organs was reached at 4 hours with uptake per gram of tissue as follows: lung > spleen > liver > blood > kidney > heart > gut > tumor > stomach > skin > muscle > brain. Elimination of hypericin was rapid in most murine organs with residual dye under 10% of maximum by 7 days compared to 25% to 30% retention for the squamous cell tumors and several normal tissues. These results suggest that hypericin may be a useful photosensitizer for KTP/532 laser interstitial therapy of human cancer.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
