Hypericin in photobiological assays: An overview

• Published in: Photodiagnosis and photodynamic therapy Vol. 35; p. 102343
• Main Authors: de Andrade, Gislaine. Patricia, de Souza, Thaiza. Ferreira. Menegassi, Cerchiaro, Giselle, Pinhal, Maria. Aparecida. da. Silva, Ribeiro, Anderson. Orzari, Girão, Manoel. João.. Batista. Castello
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2021
• Subjects: Cell death; Photodynamic therapy; Photosensitizer; Phototoxicity; Phototoxicity; Photodynamic therapy; Cell death; Photosensitizer
• ISSN: 1572-1000; 1873-1597; 1873-1597
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pdpdt.2021.102343

•This review presents some important biological results obtained with hypericin in photodynamic therapy applications.•Highlight reviewed of the hypericin concentration, light dose, and other experimental conditions to evaluate its efficiency in photodynamic treatment.•Hypericin uses in photodynamic cancer treatment, photoinactivation of microorganisms (PDI), tissue scarring, and photo diagnosis. Hypericin is considered a potent photosensitizer for use in antitumor and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (PDT). This review presents the primary biological results obtained with hypericin in photodynamic therapy applications, such as photodynamic cancer treatment, photoinactivation of microorganisms (PDI), tissue scarring, and photo diagnosis. We present a compilation of in vitro results that have been published thus far; for these studies, we highlight the hypericin concentration, light dose, and other experimental conditions to evaluate the efficiency of photodynamic treatment like cell death, cell viability, or cell proliferation. The results indicate that different hypericin phototoxicity levels can be observed according to the specific light dose and concentration. Furthermore, it was shown that cellular localization and cell death mechanisms (apoptosis and necrosis) are dependent on the cell type.