Medical uses for phycocyanin

摘要

A photochemical method is described for treating atherosclerosis or cancer wherein phycocyanin is injected into a patient suffering from one of these diseases. Once injected, phycocyanin is selectively taken up into atherosclerotic plaques or cancer cells, and upon subsequent irradiation destruction of the atherosclerotic plaques or cancer cells occurs. Phycocyanin offers several advantages over prior art chemicals used for similar purposes. First it is only marginally sensitive to the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum; consequently patients can be irradiated without concern that they will be sensitized to subsequent exposure to sunlight. Second, phycocyanin is selectively taken up into atherosclerotic plaques, with little or no uptake by surrounding normal cells. This ensures that upon subsequent irradiation that the atherosclerotic plaques are selectively destroyed with little or no damage to the surrounding cells or tissue.