Citation

Tang G, Hyman S, Schneider JH, Giannotta SL. 1993. Application of photodynamic therapy to the treatment of atherosclerotic plaques. Neurosurgery. 32(3):438-43; discussion 443. Pubmed: 8455769

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy is a therapeutic modality long studies for its application to the treatment of malignant neoplasms. Recently, studies have suggested its potential use in the treatment of atherosclerosis. In this study, two atherosclerotic plaques were induced in the abdominal aortas of 35 rabbits. The animals then received Photofrin II (Quadralogic Technologies Inc., Pearl River, NY), a photosensitizer, at doses of 5 mg/kg and 2.5 mg/kg. After 48 hours, the plaques were irradiated by a fiberoptic connected to an argon ion laser. Fluency rates from 32 mW to 256 mW and energy doses from 1.6 to 60 joules were applied. Only one of the paired plaques was irradiated, the other remaining as a control. Four weeks after treatment, the vessels were assessed. Of 26 plaques treated with photodynamic therapy, 22 were no longer grossly visible, while the nine animals that received light irradiation but no Photofrin II all had visible plaque (P < 0.001). Studies of the vessel sections confirmed a reduction in intimal thickness from 0.74 +/- 0.15 mm in matched controls as compared with 0.51 +/- 0.13 mm in animals with treated plaques. There was a concomitant enlargement of the luminal diameter from 1.13 +/- 0.51 to 1.41 +/- 0.72. On the microscopic level, plaque reduction was most complete in the groups treated with 40 and 60 joules. Different fluency rates and drug dosages did not lead to differing outcomes. Our findings indicate that photodynamic therapy with dihematoporphyrin ether met our goal of reducing plaque size and may represent a means of treating atherosclerotic plaques.

Related Faculty

Photo of Steven Hyman

Steven Hyman is Director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute and Chair of the Schizophrenia Spectrum Biomarkers Consortium (SSBC), a consortium identifying objective biomarkers to enable better diagnosis of and treatment for schizophrenia and related illnesses.

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