Nowadays, both cancer and infections caused by antibiotic resistant microorganisms are problems that affect the entire planet. Phototherapy (namely photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of microorganisms) are an alternative method for the treatment of these diseases. That requires adequate photosensitizers and, in this sense, boron-dipyrromethenes (BODIPYs) have interesting properties to act as phototherapeutic agents. In the present review, first, we describe the different strategies used to increase reactive oxygen species production. Then, we explain different architectures developed aiming to enhance the solubility of BODIPYs in biological media in order to optimize their targeting and delivery into the cells to be treated. Finally, we discuss the design of BODIPYs that are activated by specific stimuli present in the target tissues, allowing increasing the selectivity of the treatment. The data presented and discussed here show that BODIPYs are outstanding photosensitizers for the treatment of tumors and infections in the presence of oxygen and light.

如今，癌症和由抗生素抗性微生物引起的感染都是影响整个地球的问题。光疗（即微生物的光动力疗法（PDT）和光动力灭活（PDI））是治疗这些疾病的另一种方法。这就需要足够的光敏剂，从这个意义上讲，硼二吡咯烷酮（BODIPYs）具有令人感兴趣的特性，可以用作光疗剂。在本综述中，首先，我们描述了用于增加活性氧物质产生的不同策略。然后，我们解释了旨在增强BODIPY在生物介质中的溶解度以优化其靶向性和将其递送至待治疗细胞中的不同体系结构。最后，我们讨论了由靶组织中存在的特定刺激激活的BODIPY的设计，从而增加了治疗的选择性。此处介绍和讨论的数据表明，BODIPY是在氧气和光存在下用于治疗肿瘤和感染的出色光敏剂。