Pharmacokinetics of disulphonated tetraphenyl chlorin (fimaporfin/TPCS2a) in a rat glioma model — methodology

Abstract

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive cancers in humans, with low survival rates for many cancers after surgery, ionizing radiation, or chemotherapy. Because of that, the interest in developing new treatment technologies and using alternative substances is continuously increasing, and rodent brain tumor models are useful for developing effective therapies for GBM. Herin, the photosensitizing potential of the photosensitizer meso-tetraphenyl chlorin disulphonate (fimaporfin/TPCS[Formula: see text], AmphinexⓇ) has been evaluated by a rat orthotopic glioma model, 10 days after intracranial instillation of F98 cells in hippocampus of Fisher 344 rats. The injection of fimaporfin (3 mg/200 g rat) was performed in one of the tumor-bearing animals’ tail veins, followed by in vivo fluorescence imaging, whole heads, bodies, and ex vivo analyses of glioma tumors and blood samples. The tumor localization and size in the hippocampus were documented by MRI 9 days after F98 cell instillation and the results indicate no fluorescence in the blood samples post 6 days after intravenous injection. Interestingly, the present model documents a clear fluorescence in the glioma ex vivo analyses 18 days after F98 cell instillation in the hippocampus (10 days post-PDT), which shows a fimaporfin accumulation in gliomas much longer than in the circulating blood.