Ascorbate-assisted, Phthalocyanine-sensitized Photohaemolysis of Human Erythrocytes

Abstract

The rate of photohaemolysis of human red blood cells sensitized by chloroaluminium phthalocyanine sulphonate is increased by ascorbate, with or without added FeCl₃. Stimulation of haemolysis by ascorbate without addition of metal salt, and in the presence of a strong chelator such as desferrioxamine, is an unexpected phenomenon. Lysis rate and ascorbate concentration were directly related, suggesting that ascorbate acts as a reactant and not as a catalyst. The process also requires oxygen; azide and D₂O tests indicate some participation of singlet oxygen, although to a lesser extent than in the photosensitized haemolysis in the absence of ascorbate. Kinetic considerations suggest a reaction path initiated by excited sensitizer and ascorbate, parallel to the singlet oxygen-mediated process. Because of the ubiquitous presence of ascorbate in human tissues in concentrations comparable to those of dissolved oxygen, it is quite possible that in photodynamic therapy a fraction of the photodynamic damage proceeds via a Type I, ascorbate-assisted, mechanism.