The characteristics of erythema induced by topical 5-aminolaevulinic acid photodynamic therapy.
BACKGROUND
Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) is increasingly used to treat superficial non-melanoma skin cancers. Knowledge of the characteristics of 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-induced phototoxicity will increase our understanding of PDT and may facilitate optimisation of treatment regimes.


METHODS
We examined the characteristics of ALA-induced erythema in 10 healthy subjects and investigated the effect of light source and body site.


CONCLUSIONS
Maximal erythema occurred within 1-2 h of PDT and inter-individual variation in ALA-induced phototoxicity was seen. No detectable differences were seen in the phototoxicity on back or leg sites or between coherent and non-coherent light sources. These data provide further information to allow us to optimise topical PDT regimes.
Clark
Colin
C
Photobiology Unit, Department of Dermatology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland.
Dawe
Robert S
RS
Moseley
Harry
H
Ferguson
James
J
Ibbotson
Sally H
SH
D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D004890:Erythema / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
C428044:5-aminolaevulinic acid-n-pentylester; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid