Objectives: To study the effect of amphiphilic polymers on the dark and photoinduced toxicity of dyes with photosensitizing properties – methylene blue (MB) and rose bengal (RB) – in in vitro experiments.
Methods. In vitro experiments were carried out on human lung carcinoma A549 cells and on cultures of gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial cells using a phototherapeutic LED with a wavelength of λ = 530 nm (for the RB) or λ = 660 nm (for the MB).
Results. Amphiphilic polymers (Pluronic F-108 and poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone) were shown to enhance the dark and photoinduced toxicity of dyes. MB was also shown to exhibit greater activity (compared to RB) in photodynamic inactivation of Gram-negative bacteria, while RB (compared to MB) was shown to exhibit greater activity in the inactivation of Gram-positive bacteria.
Conclusions. MB in combination with amphiphilic polymers is a potential drug of choice for both photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer and antibacterial PDT of Gram-negative bacteria. At the same time, RB-based systems hold promise for the development of antibacterial PDT of Gram-positive bacteria.