Research Progress of Photosensitizers and Sonosensitizers from Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Field of Antibacterial Therapy

Bacterial infections pose a serious threat to global public health. Currently, antibiotic therapy is the primary treatment for bacterial infections, but issues such as poor efficacy, high recurrence rates, and the potential to disrupt normal flora remain unavoidable. Moreover, the misuse and overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics in clinical settings have led to a yearly increase in bacterial resistance, making the treatment of bacterial infections, especially those caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria, particularly challenging. Photodynamic therapy and sonodynamic therapy primarily utilize light of specific wavelengths or low frequency ultrasound to activate photosensitizers or sonosensitizers, prompting the production of reactive oxygen species to inhibit and kill bacteria. As a novel antibacterial approach, photodynamic therapy and sonodynamic therapy have broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and are less likely to induce resistance, proving effective against a variety of drug-resistant bacteria. Photosensitizers and sonosensitizers derived from active components of traditional Chinese medicine have shown great molecular diversity, rich biological activity, low toxicity, and side effects, as well as the advantages of low cost and simple extraction processes, demonstrating a broad application prospects in the field of photodynamic and sonodynamic antibacterial therapy. Given this, this article mainly reviews the research progress of photosensitizers and sonosensitizers from traditional Chinese medicine in the antibacterial field.