Book Review

Photodynamic Inactivation of Microbial Pathogens Medical andEnvironmental Applications: Light Strikes Back Microorganismsin the New Millennium

Authors: Michael R. Hamblin1 and Giulio Jori2

1Massachusetts General Hospital, Comprehensive Series in Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences2University of Padova, Comprehensive Series in Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences

Published by RSC Publishing, Cambridge, 2011, xv +434 pp. £199.95. ISBN 978-1-84973-144-7

Oskar Raab and Hermann von Tappiener noticed 111 yearsago that Paramecium spp. protozoans stained with acridineorange died upon exposure to bright light and this has since

been recognized as the foundation of photodynamic inactiva-tion and therapy (PDT) (1). It is quite certain that they did notlive long enough or even imagine the future impact of their

observation. In the 1970s, PDT began to be explored for theselective destruction of cancer. Since then, PDT has emergedas a tool for the treatment of various malignancies and is theprinciple tool for the treatment of age-related macular

degeneration (2). Recently, it has been transformed to adiagnostic and treatment alternative for localized infections.Today PDT is definitely not ‘‘a technique’’ but constitutes a

platform with unlimited therapeutic and environmental impli-cations. Michael Hamblin and Giulio Jori are both pioneersand founding fathers of the platform. They have assembled a

17-chapter textbook attempting to provide a comprehensivetour through the latest advances in PDT of microbialpathogens. They succeed in transitioning from photochemistryand development and delivery of novel photosensitizers

(Chapters 1–7) to animal models of localized infections, blooddisinfection, acne viral pathogens and parasites (Chapters 8–12) and finally in providing hard evidence for an array of

clinical applications including among others treatment ofwound, oral and fungal infections (Chapters 13–17). One couldargue that the platform has expanded substantially in recent

years and this is quite evident from the number of publicationsin the last decade. This rise in popularity makes this install-

ment for the Comprehensive Series in Photochemical andPhotobiological Sciences a rather successful experiment. Inretrospective, this prior available art raises an array of

questions regarding potential resistance mechanisms to PDT,specifics of inactivation for microbial biofilms and virulencedeterminants as well as other evolving or under-investigated

features of the microbial phenotype (3). The editorial team hassucceeded in providing a quite straightforward digest for arather heterogeneous assembly of material which should beattractive for scientists, clinicians, teachers and even scientif-

ically inclined members of the general public.

George P. Tegos

University of New MexicoAlbuquerque, New MexicoUnited States

REFERENCES

1. Raab, O. (1900) Ueber diewirkung fluoreszierender stoffe auf in-fusori. Z. Biol. 39, 524–536.

2. Dolmans, D., D. Fukumura and R. K. Jain (2003) Photodynamictherapy for cancer. Nat. Rev. Cancer 3, 380–387.

3. St Denis, T.G., T. Dai, A. Izikson, C. Astrakas, R. R. Anderson, M.R. Hamblin and G. P. Tegos (2011) All you need is light; antimi-crobial photoinactivation as an evolving and emerging discoverystrategy against infectious disease. Virulence 2, 1–12.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2011.01010.x

� 2011 The Authors

Photochemistry and Photobiology� 2011 The American Society of Photobiology 0031-8655/11

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