title: Special features of gram-positive bacterial eradication by photosensitizers.
abstract: Antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria is a major concern and presents a special challenge for development of alternative antibacterial modalities. One of these alternative approaches is based on using the photodynamic therapy (PDT) for eradicating bacteria. Photosensitizer-induced PDT exhibits unique properties and demonstrates efficient microbe-killing effects. The efficient and irreversible antimicrobial effects of PDT are not dependent on the antibiotic susceptibility of the pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics. Gram-positive bacteria exhibit efficient binding of the photosensitizer to the bacterial barriers, leading to immediate photoinactivation of the bacteria. Photoinactivation of Gram-positive bacteria by various photosensitizers has become a high priority, since these bacteria are responsible for life-threatening infections in humans, especially in the elderly and in compromised hosts in whom they cause hospital-acquired infections. The present review concentrates on the photoinactivation of Staphylococi, Streptococci, Propionibacterium acnes, Deinococcus radiodurans, aerobic spore-forming Bacilli by various photosensitizers and by various methods described in numerous works and patents.
authors.affiliation: Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel. itzan.yeshayahu@mail.biu.ac.il
authors.forename: Yeshayahu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nitzan
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nisnevitch
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects; D034301:Deinococcus / Q000187:drug effects; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D010330:Patents as Topic; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011425:Propionibacterium acnes / Q000187:drug effects; D012995:Solubility; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000187:drug effects; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D014867:Water