Photodynamic therapy as an alternative to antibiotic therapy for the treatment of infected leg ulcers

Publication date: Available online 3 May 2018
Source:Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy
Author(s): Aleksandra Kawczyk-Krupka, Barbara Pucelik, Anna Międzybrodzka, Aleksander Sieroń, Janusz M. Dąbrowski
Infected leg ulcers are painful, debilitating and immensely reducing patient's quality of life, therefore they are becoming a more and more significant clinical and socioeconomic problems nowadays. Increasing resistance to antibiotics, drugs and therapies is one of the most urgent challenge in medicine worldwide and requires searching for a new, innovative and more efficient medical strategies. One of the opportunities for the cure of leg ulcers is photodynamic inactivation (PDI), that has been widely used in the treatment of various bacterial, fungal and viral infections. PDI encompasses three independently non-toxic elements: a photosensitizer (PS), light of an appropriate wavelength, and molecular oxygen that lead to generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for inactivation of microorganisms, including these present in the form of biofilm in chronic wounds. PDI, due to its multiple mechanism of action, low invasiveness and lack of significant side effects, offers an interesting alternative for combating the microbial resistance in the infected leg ulcers. It also significantly decreases the area of leg ulcers, or even heals them completely and thus remarkably improves a patient's quality of life.

Graphical abstract

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