Synergistic effect of ultrasound and phthalocyanines on nucleated erythrocytes in vitro

The synergistic effect of ultrasound (US) and chemicals on cells is known as sonodynamic therapy. In this work, two phthalocyanines (zinc and chloroaluminum) have been tested as potential sonosensitizers for sonodynamic therapy. We studied the effect of US and phthalocyanines on carp erythrocytes, as a nucleated cell model. The level of hemolysis, osmotic fragility, lipid peroxidation and oxidation of hemoglobin were the markers of these reactions. Red blood cells were preincubated with phthalocyanines and exposed to 1 MHz continuous wave at the intensity of 2.44 W/cm2 for 5 min. It was noticed that US and phthalocyanines exposure led to an increase in the level of hemolysis, lipid peroxidation product and osmotic fragility in comparison to US alone and phthalocyanines alone. However, these factors did not cause changes in the degree of hemoglobin oxidation. The results lead to the conclusion that phthalocyanines caused synergistic effect with US, and it can be used as a sonosensitizer for sonodynamic therapy, but the mechanism of this action is still unclear. (E-mail: tgabryl@biol.uni.lodz.pl)