Laser-induced fluorescence studies of normal and malignant tumour tissue of rat following intravenous injection of delta-amino levulinic acid.
OBJECTIVE
Laser-induced fluorescence was studied in normal and tumour tissue of rat after intravenous injection of delta-amino levulinic acid (ALA). The aim of the study was to investigate the protoporphyrin IX accumulation in different tissue types in rat after systemically administered ALA.


METHODS
A malignant rat tumour and normal tissue from 13 different organs were investigated in eight rats. The rats were injected with two different ALA doses, 30 and 90 mg/kg b.w., and the investigations were performed at 10, 30 and 240 min after the injection. The fluorescence was recorded utilising an optical fibre based fluorosensor at 405 nm excitation.


RESULTS
Fluorescence spectra were recorded in the 400-750 nm wavelength region including the dual-peaked PpIX fluorescence at about 635 and 705 nm, and the tissue autofluorescence peaking at about 500 nm. The maximum tumour build-up of PpIX was achieved already in less than 1 hr after ALA injection. The fluorescence demarcation between tumour and surrounding tissue was a factor of 7-8:1 after 30 min and decreased for longer retention times. The accumulation in 13 different organs was investigated and a particularly high PpIX build-up was found in stomach and intestine.


CONCLUSIONS
Fluorescence detection following i.v. injection of ALA provides attractive diagnostics for the experimental tumour used, indicating clinical usefulness.
Johansson
J
J
Department of Physics, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden.
Berg
R
R
Svanberg
K
K
Svanberg
S
S
D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007834:Lasers; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D011524:Protoporphyrins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011920:Rats, Inbred WF; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D011524:Protoporphyrins; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid; C028025:protoporphyrin IX