Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy: Can Resistance Develop?

With the recent rise of widespread antibiotic and often multidrug resistance amongst pathogenic microorganisms, considerable research efforts have been devoted to elucidating new means of inactivating bacteria and other microbial pathogens. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) - a localized treatment involving light, a light sensitive dye, and the oxygen present in cells - has demonstrated real efficacy in the war against microbes. However, to date, little research has been devoted to determining if microbial pathogens may become resistant or tolerant to the effects of PDT. This conference proceedings analyzes current reports on microbial ability to acquire resistance mechanisms to PDT and strongly suggests that further work be devoted to strengthening and lengthening PDT efficacy by delaying microbial resistance to PDT.