Rose bengal

Rose bengal (4,5,6,7-tetrachloro-2',4',5',7'-tetraiodofluorescein) is a stain. Its sodium salt is commonly used in eye drops to stain damaged conjunctival and corneal cells and thereby identify damage to the eye. The stain is also used in the preparation of Foraminifera for microscopic analysis, allowing the distinction between forms that were alive or dead at the time of collection. Rose bengal (4,5,6,7-tetrachloro-2',4',5',7'-tetraiodofluorescein) is a stain. Its sodium salt is commonly used in eye drops to stain damaged conjunctival and corneal cells and thereby identify damage to the eye. The stain is also used in the preparation of Foraminifera for microscopic analysis, allowing the distinction between forms that were alive or dead at the time of collection. A form of rose bengal is also being studied as a treatment for certain cancers and skin conditions. The cancer formulation of the drug, known as PV-10, is currently undergoing clinical trials for melanoma and breast cancer. The company also has formulated a drug based on rose bengal for the treatment of eczema and psoriasis; this drug, PV-10, is currently in clinical trials as well. Rose bengal was originally prepared in 1882 by Ghnem, as an analogue of fluorescein. Its name derives from rose (flower) and Bengal (region); it is printed as rose bengal or Rose Bengal in the scientific literature. Despite its complicated photochemistry involving several species, rose bengal is also used in synthetic chemistry to generate singlet oxygen from triplet oxygen. The singlet oxygen can then undergo a variety of useful reactions, particularly cycloadditions with alkenes and similar systems. Rose bengal can be used to form many derivatives that have important medical functions. One such derivative was created so to be sonosensitive but photoinsensitive, so that with a high intensity focused ultrasound, it could be used in the treatment of cancer. The derivative was formed by amidation of rose bengal, which turned off the fluorescent and photosensitive properties of rose bengal, leading to a usable compound, named in the study as RB2. Salts of rose bengal include C20H4Cl4I4O5·2Na (CAS 632-69-9). This sodium salt is a dye, which has its own unique properties and uses. PV-10 (an injectable form of rose bengal) was found to cause an observable response in 60% of tumors treated, according to researchers in a phase II melanoma study. Locoregional disease control was observed in 75% of patients. Also confirmed was a 'bystander effect', previously observed in the phase I trial, whereby untreated lesions responded to treatment as well, potentially due to immune system response. These data were based on the interim results (in 2009) of the first 40 patients treated in an 80 patient study. As of April 2016 a phase 3 study of PV-10 as a single agent therapy for patients with locally advanced cutaneous melanoma (Clinical Trials ID NCT02288897) is enrolling patients. Rose bengal has been shown to not just prevent the growth and spread of ovarian cancer, but also to cause apoptotic cell death of the cancer cells. This has been proven in vitro, in order to prove that rose bengal is still a possible option in the treatment of cancer, and further research should be done. Rose bengal is also used in animal models of ischemic stroke (photothrombotic stroke models) in biomedical research. A bolus of the compound is injected into the venous system. Then the region of interest (e.g., the cerebral cortex) is exposed and illuminated by LASER light of 561 nm. A thrombus is formed in the illuminated blood vessels, causing a stroke in the dependent brain tissue.