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Rhodamine‐123 as a new laser dye: In vivo study of dye effects on murine metabolism, histology and ultrastructure
Author(s) -
Castro Dan J.,
Saxton Romaine E.,
Rodgerson Denis O.,
Fu Yao Shi,
Bhuta Sunita M.,
Fetterman Harold R.,
Castro Donna J.,
Tartell Paul B.,
Ward Paul H.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-198210000-00016
Subject(s) - toxicity , medicine , body weight , pathology , chemistry , pharmacology
Rhodamine‐123 (Rh‐123) is a mitochondrial‐specific dye that has recently proven to be an effective fluorochrome for photo‐dynamic therapy of squamous carcinoma cells and melanomas with the Argon laser. Complete eradication of heterotrans‐planted human tumors in nude mice was possible if tumors were first “sensitized” to Rh‐123 and then treated with the Argon laser. Prior to initiation of human testing of this technique, the toxicity and pathological changes in BALB/c mice were tested by an escalating dose schedule after systemic injection of Rh‐123. Animals' body weight, blood chemistry, enzymes and organ evaluation for histology, and ultrastructural changes were analyzed for 3 weeks after injection with Rh‐123. The results of this study demonstrate that Rh‐123 has significant systemic toxicity in BALB/c mice injected at doses of 10 μg/g of body weight and above, manifested by chronic weight loss and elevation of muscle enzymes with death of the animals injected at doses higher than 50 μg/g of body weight. At doses of 1 μg/g of Rh‐123, no local or systemic toxicity was observed even after a 3‐week follow‐up, suggesting that safe and effective tumor sensi‐tization might be possible in humans at this concentration. The high effectiveness of this new technique of photodynamic therapy and the low toxicity of this dye in this preclinical model system suggests that Rh‐123 and the Argon laser may represent a powerful new method for treatment of superficial malignancies.