A systematic review of photodynamic therapy as an antiviral treatment: Potential guidance for dealing with SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Background SARS-CoV-2, which causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), presents high rates of morbidity and mortality and has affected thousands of people around the world. The search to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 is ongoing and urgent. This systematic review seeks to assess whether photodynamic therapy (PDT) could be effective in SARS-CoV-2 inactivation. Methods The focus question was: Can photodynamic therapy be used as potential guidance for dealing with SARS-CoV-2?”. A literature search, according to PRISMA statements, was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Web of Science, LILACS, and Google Scholar. Studies published from January 2004 to June 2020 were analyzed. In vitro and in vivo studies were included that evaluated the effect of PDT mediated by several photosensitizers on RNA and DNA enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. Results From 27 selected manuscripts, 26 publications used in vitro studies, 24 were exclusively in vitro , and two had in vitro / in vivo parts. Only one analyzed publication was exclusively in vivo . Meta-analysis studies were unfeasible due to heterogeneity of the data. The risk of bias was analyzed in all studies. Conclusion The in vitro and in vivo studies selected in this systematic review indicated that PDT is capable of photoinactivating enveloped and non-enveloped DNA and RNA viruses, suggesting that PDT can potentially photoinactivate SARS-CoV-2.

Photodynamic Therapy—An Up-to-Date Review

“…PDT has been reported to be effective in the inactivation of mammalian viruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis A, B, and C viruses, herpes viruses, human parvovirus B19, human cytomegalovirus, enteroviruses, and adenoviruses [145][146][147]. PDT started to be intensively researched in the pandemic context as an alternative or complementary treatment strategy to target SARS-CoV-2 [34,[148][149][150][151][152]. The photodynamic effect can disrupt the membrane structures of the viral envelope, proteins, and RNA.…”

“…The photodynamic effect can disrupt the membrane structures of the viral envelope, proteins, and RNA. Hence, PDT is proving to be a powerful tool to inactivate infectious agents [34,152].…”

How can biophotonics help dentistry to avoid or minimize cross infection by SARS-CoV-2?

“…According to recent published studies, aPDT showed in vitro antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 [ 117 , 118 ]. Moreover, a systematic review of 27 studies showed that aPDT can inactivate enveloped and non-enveloped DNA and RNA viruses, which suggest their promising potential against SARS-CoV-2 [124] .…”

Photobiomodulation (PBMT) and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) in oral manifestations of patients infected by Sars-CoV-2: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…When a photosensitizing substance, such as methylene blue, for example, is photoactivated in the presence of oxygen, it leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species (Vittar et al 2008 ), causing irreversible damage to target structures such as proteins and lipids, leading to death of microorganisms by apoptosis or necrosis (Conrado et al 2021 ; Castano et al 2005 ). In viral infectious agents, aPDT can affect the lipid or protein structures of the viral envelope membrane, even the nucleic acid, regardless of the specific interaction with a receptor, indicating that it is an efficient tool to eliminate these infectious agents (Conrado et al 2021 ; Castano et al 2005 ; Wiehe et al 2019 ; Monjo et al 2018 ; Pacheco et al 2021 ).…”