Premalignant lesions like oral lichen planus (OLP), oral leukoplakia (OL) has a fair probability of transforming into malignancy and they are perverse toward conventional therapies. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been considered as an alternative/complimentary therapeutic modality for the management of premalignant lesions. In this study, methylene blue-mediated photodynamic therapy (MB-PDT) was used as a possible alternative method for the treatment of OLP and OL. A total of 15 OLP lesions and 13 OL lesions were enrolled in the study. The This is an Open Access article published by World Scienti¯c Publishing Company. It is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC-BY) License. Further distribution of this work is permitted, provided the original work is properly cited. patients were irradiated using metal halide lamp¯ltered at 630 AE 10 nm, with a light exposure dose of 120 J/cm 2 per sitting. For the OLP lesions, MB-PDT was performed once a week for four weeks and for the OL lesions, MB-PDT was performed twice a week for three weeks. Lesions were evaluated pre-and post-and at follow-up sessions by changes in sign and symptom scores, and size of lesions. We have observed a 53.3% of complete reduction in the treated OLP lesions and their decrease in size, sign and symptom score after treatment and at follow-up session was statistically signi¯cant. We have also observed complete response for one OL lesion of the 13 treated lesions. The result indicates that MB-PDT is an e®ective modality in management of OLP and OL. Among the two types of premalignancies treated with MB-PDT, OLP lesions responded much better than that of OL.

Targeted drug delivery system using nanoparticles is a promising strategy for efficient Photodynamic therapy (PDT) as they have the potential to overcome the problems of photosensitizer and enhance the effectiveness and specificity of PDT. In this study, Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) conjugated gold nanoparticles were synthesized using electrostatic and covalent conjugation scheme. Folic acid (FA) was also conjugated suitably to the covalent complex to vectorize the complex. Optical characterizations of the complex prove the formation of the complex. The size of the synthesized nanocomplexes was studied using light scattering measurements. The photo-toxicity of the free PpIX and PpIX-nanoparticle complexes were studied using MTT assay technique against Vero and HeLa cell lines. These In-vitro results of this study indicates that, the nanoparticle complexes are more phototoxic compared to free PpIX, with the covalent complex being the better of the two complexes and the folate-mediated nanocomplex is the superior of the studied complexes. These results ensures that nanoparticle conjugated photosensitizers equipped with FA may be an effective drug delivery mechanism for PDT.

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Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising treatment modality in the management of premalignant and malignant conditions. Nanoparticles were used recently as drug delivery agents and have shown increase in the efficacy of PDT. In this study we have used gold nanoparticles as a potential drug delivery agent in enhancing the photodynamic efficacy. Glutathione (GSH) capped gold nanoparticles were synthesized by immobilizing the thiol group of the GSH on to the surface of the gold nanoparticles. Rosebengal, a hydrophilic photosensitizer was conjugated to the amine group of the bounded GSH. These synthesized rosebengal conjugated gold nanoparticles were characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy for confirmation of the complex formation. Further, studies on the absorption, emission and lifetime of the nanocomplexes-show significant changes due to the formation of the complex. The PDT efficacy of these nanocomplexes and sensitizer alone were studied against Vero and HeLa cell lines. The phototoxicity results shows the nanocomplexes are more phototoxic than that of the free rosebengal where the covalent complex being the better of the nanocomplex.

Serious scientific Research in the field of cosmetics has speared headed the growth of cosmetic industry, which adds undeniable credibility to the products. Many a time, a clinically simple, non-invasive dermatological technique is required to study the effect of the products in real time. Raman spectroscopy can be employed in his regard as it is a versatile technique which can be employed to study the nature and effects of these cosmetic products. In this short communication, we are reporting the study on the effect of fairness creams available in the market for the general Indian populace using Raman spectroscopy.