In vivo and in vitro investigation of photosensitizer-coated superparamagnetic nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy

Magnetic fluids coated with two kinds of photosensitizers , hematoporphyrin and 5-aminolevulinic acid, were prepared to promote increased therapeutic efficiency in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Superparamagnetic particles of Fe₃O₄ were nanometrically synthesized by coprecipitation method. The toxicity of each fluid was estimated using Sprague-Dawley rats. Also, A549 human lung cancer cell line was used to confirm the PDT effect of each photosensitizer-coated magnetic fluids. The PDT experiments were performed for the light doses with 0, 50, 200 and 400 mJ/cm³. Analyses of UV-spectrometer band pico-tag amino acid showed the coating efficiency of hematoporphyrin and 5-aminolevulinic acid was 2.0% and 12.5% respectively. In the case of the 5-aminolevulinic acid, as light dose increased, the cell destruction showed the proportional increase. But in the case of hematoporphyrin, the remarkable cell destruction was not observed except the condition of 400 mJ/cm³. In vivo test showed that at 4% of the total blood amount for both materials that were injected in a vein, all animals died.