Light energy is known to be used to combat microbial growth. Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) has the potential to use different naturally-occurring compounds, such as photosensitizers. Curcumin is an example of a molecule of interest in different areas under different optics. This systematic review surveys the aims and scope of research on curcumin-mediated PACT published between January 2011 and December 2020. The search was carried out in MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE and Periódicos CAPES databases employing the keywords “Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy”, “photosensitizer”, “curcumin” and the descriptor “Light-Emitting Diode”. It was observed that in the last decade little material meeting these criteria was published. Brazilian institutions concentrated most of their studies on cytotoxic activity. The most recent work, however, focused on antibiofilm activity. Gram-positive bacteria are more sensitive to curcumin-mediated PACT over a short wavelength range. Different concentrations and exposure time of the photosensitizer were evaluated, but the amount of information is still insufficient to establish the best treatment condition as the number of tested pathogens is still poor.
Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy using zinc phthalocyanine derivatives in treatment of bacterial skin infection
