Comparison of aluminum sulphonated phthalocyanine with 5-aminolaevulinic-acid-induced protoporphyrin IX: tissue distributions, photodamage, and photodegradation

Fluorescence spectroscopic studies have been carried out on tissue sensitization by Aluminium Sulphonated Phthalocyanine (AlSPc) and endogenous Protoporphyrin IX induced by administration of exogenous 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA). A charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging system has been used to obtain quantitative fluorescence distributions of sensitization in frozen sections taken from rat tumors together with normal adjacent tissues. Using ALA, specific porphyrin sensitization of malignant epithelium is observed with much less sensitization present in connective tissue. Photodegradation of AlSPc and PPIX was studied by monitoring of fluorescence bleaching: in normal rat colon there is a significant reduction in AlSPc fluorescence at the edge of the photonecrosed zone which suggests that photodegradation may provide a means of diagnosing the extent of tissue damage. ALA- induced PPIX fluorescence is also observed to bleach in colon simultaneously with an increase in fluorescence emission near 675 nm which we attribute to a photoprotoporphyrin degradation product.