Photophysical Properties of Protoporphyrin IX, Pyropheophorbide-a, and Photofrin® in Different Conditions

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative treatment of malignant or diseased tissues. The effectiveness of PDT depends on light dosimetry, oxygen availability, and properties of the photosensitizer (PS). Depending on the medium, photophysical properties of the PS can change leading to increase or decrease in fluorescence emission and formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) especially singlet oxygen (¹O₂). In this study, the influence of solvent polarity, viscosity, concentration, temperature, and pH medium on the photophysical properties of protoporphyrin IX, pyropheophorbide-a, and Photofrin^® were investigated by UV-visible absorption, fluorescence emission, singlet oxygen emission, and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopies.