ABSTRACT
For the past few years, and more precisely as a result of Coronavirus world pandemic beginning in 2019, human health is becoming a major issue all over the world. Each Human in the planet can be touched by disease. In this context, personalized medicine also named theranostic is a growing interest by its capability to combine therapeutic and diagnostic function with the individual characteristics of each patient. One of its applications is more precisely the disease detection. By its personal diagnosis, it can guide therapy by, for example, the use of special probes in medical imaging. Besides, when the disease is caused by pathogens such as bacteria, photopharmacology is of exceptional interest. Indeed, the use of light to initiate or terminate an antibacterial activity offers a series of advantages over conventional pharmacological approaches. For all of these actions, we can cite for example the localization of the action, where the bactericide action takes place only when light enable/disable it. We can also cite the stop and go process of the treatment, only if the kinetic of isomerization permit an instant activation or inactivation of the action. Moreover, if some diseases can be treated by light under a skin-tan system, photopharmacology merge chemical treatments and phototherapy, all-in-one. Metal oxides can afford solutions to both issues. First, metal oxides can have antimicrobial activity with or without light activation. In another hand, due to their optical properties, penetration ability and low cytotoxicity, these metal oxides can be used for in vitro and in vivo bio-imaging. Moreover, with inorganic dopant or organic ligand, it is possible to tune the optical properties with a very stable luminescence of metal oxide materials that is helpful for disease detection. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.