title: Methylene blue in photodynamic therapy: From basic mechanisms to clinical applications.
abstract: Methylene blue (MB) is a molecule that has been playing important roles in microbiology and pharmacology for some time. It has been widely used to stain living organisms, to treat methemoglobinemia, and lately it has been considered as a drug for photodynamic therapy (PDT). In this review, we start from the fundamental photophysical, photochemical and photobiological characteristics of this molecule and evolved to show in vitro and in vivo applications related to PDT. The clinical cases shown include treatments of basal cell carcinoma, Kaposi's Sarcoma, melanoma, virus and fungal infections. We concluded that used together with a recently developed continuous light source (RL50(®)), MB has the potential to treat a variety of cancerous and non-cancerous diseases, with low toxicity and no side effects.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina ABC, Av. Príncipe de Gales, 821, C.P. 106, CEP 09060-650, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Paulo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tardivo
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina ABC, Av. Príncipe de Gales, 821, C.P. 106, CEP 09060-650, Brazil.
authors.forename: Auro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Del Giglio
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, IQ-USP, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carla Santos
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, IQ-USP, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dino Santesso
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Gabrielli
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, IQ-USP, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Helena Couto
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Junqueira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, IQ-USP, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dayane Batista
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, IQ-USP, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Divinomar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Severino
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, IQ-USP, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rozane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Fátima Turchiello
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, IQ-USP, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauricio S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Baptista