Giulia Kassab graduated as a Pharmacist from the University of São Paulo in 2016 and received her Master’s degree in Biomolecular Physics from the same University in 2018. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the Biophotonics Group of the São Carlos Institute of Physics from the University of São Paulo. Her main research focus is the photodynamic inactivation of bacterial pneumonia.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its relevant health consequences have been explicitly framed as a shared global problem and are estimated to be one of the largest causes of death worldwide by 2050. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) proposes an alternative treatment for localized infections in response to AMR’s ever-growing problem. This technique combines molecular oxygen, a non-toxic photoactivatable photosensitizer (PS), and light of appropriate wavelength, leading to the formation of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. Besides the ability to inactivate resistant pathogens via a non-selective approach (multiple targets), a relevant advantage of aPDT resides in the fact that no evidence of microorganism resistance has ever been reported to it. In this chapter, we address some efforts to use this technology to kill bacteria in the respiratory tract, from in vitro to clinical applications. We put forward three focuses: pharyngotonsillitis, pneumonia, and preventing secondary infections during the use of a photosensitizer-functionalized endotracheal tube. The results here presented offer a foundation for what may become a much larger clinical approach to treat respiratory tract infections.
Part of the book: Photodynamic Therapy