Treating Acne and Rosacea with Chromophore Gel with Broadband Light

Photodynamic Light Therapy

When applied with a topical substance, light therapy becomes photodynamic therapy (PDT). Kleresca is a photodynamic therapy treatment manufacturer based in Europe and Australia.

Kleresca marketing refers to this process as biophotonics. In home LED therapy, the chromophores in the mitochondria absorb the photons to create an ATP and nitric oxide response. In PDT, the topical substance absorbs the photons. Then, the substance is potentiated to heal, or the absorption transfers photon energy to the skin. In this case, it appears that the chromophore gel is a mediator to get more photons to the skin.

This study looked at the Kleresca chromophore gel’s light absorption properties.
Researchers tested gel penetration of fluorescent light energy (FLE) of 375 nm, 405 nm, 435 nm, 450 nm, 470 nm, 505 nm, 525 nm, 570 nm, 590 nm, 630 nm, 645 nm, 660 nm, 700 nm, 850 nm, 870 nm, 890 nm, 940 nm and 970 nm.
They tested the reflection and absorption qualities of the gel with each color. They found that 375 nm had the highest reflectance. 405 nm through 590 nm had the highest absorption. 630 nm through 970 nm had less but still significant absorption. In other words, at least 5 wavelengths between 405 nm and 590 nm deeply penetrate the chromophore gel; at least nine red and infrared wavelengths significantly penetrate the gel. 375 nm is a high reflectance outlier. The gel maintained fluorescence for up to 15 minutes after exposure.

The fluorescent Kleresca lamp output similar irradiance to an LED analogue. Irradiance for both lamps peaked at just under 10 mW/cm^2 and 435 nm. Irradiance was lowest at 500 nm to 550 nm at .01 mW/cm^2 (LED) and .001 mW/cm^2 (Kleresca). Lamps peaked output again at 570 nm at just under .1 mW/cm^2 and plummeted back to 0.001 between 630 nm and 700 nm.

Authors tested Kleresca PDT on one acne patient. Inflammation reduction peaked at week 20 and corresponded with significant lesion reduction. More acne resolution occurred from week 21 to week 57 with visible reductions at week 33, week 45 and week 57.

A third test compared fibroblast collagen production under LED and Kleresca. Kleresca produced more collagen compared to LED in untreated skin. In part 2 of the collagen test, researchers added interferon inflammatory markers to the fibroblast cells. LED collagen production remained consistent, but FLE dramatically fell below LED results. In the presence of inflammatory marker, LED produced the same collagen, and FLE produced significantly less collagen.

In a confusing statement of conflict, the authors state that they Kleresca employees, but that Kleresca did not fund the study, and there are no conflicts of interest.

• UVA 315-400 nm
• Violet 400-415 nm
• Blue 415-490 nm
• Cyan 490-520 nm
• Green 520-560 nm
• Yellow 560-590 nm
• Orange 590-630 nm
• Red 630-700 nm
• Infrared 700-1400 nm