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In vitro photoinactivation effectiveness of a portable LED device aimed for intranasal photodisinfection and a photosensitizer formulation comprising methylene blue and potassium iodide against bacterial, fungal, and viral respiratory pathogens

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Abstract

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) can be a viable option for management of intranasal infections. However, there are light delivery, fluence, and photosensitizer-related challenges. We report in vitro effectiveness of an easily fabricated, low-cost, portable, LED device and a formulation comprising methylene blue (MB) and potassium iodide (KI) for photoinactivation of pathogens of the nasal cavity, namely, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, multi-antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida spp., and SARS-CoV-2.

In a 96-well plate, microbial suspensions incubated with 0.005% MB alone or MB and KI formulation were exposed to different red light (~ 660 ± 25 nm) fluence using the LED device fitted to each well. Survival loss in bacteria and fungi was quantified using colony-forming unit assay, and SARS-CoV-2 photodamage was assessed by RT-PCR.

The results suggest that KI addition to MB leads to KI concentration-dependent potentiation (up to ~ 5 log10) of photoinactivation in bacteria and fungi. aPDT in the presence of 25 or 50 mM KI shows the following photoinactivation trend; Gm + ve bacteria  > Gm − ve bacteria > fungi  > virus. aPDT in the presence of 100 mM KI, using 3- or 5-min red light exposure, results in complete eradication of bacteria or fungi, respectively. For SARS-CoV-2, aPDT using MB-KI leads to a ~ 6.5 increase in cycle threshold value.

The results demonstrate the photoinactivation effectiveness of the device and MB-KI formulation, which may be helpful in designing of an optimized protocol for future intranasal photoinactivation studies in clinical settings.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to Dr. Shankar Vinayak Nakhe, Director, Raja Ramanna Centre For Advanced Technology, Indore, for his valuable suggestions regarding the design and development of the LED-based device. We also thank Dr. Ranjana Haldar, Sodani Sampuna Diagnostics, Indore, for her help during the investigations on clinical bacterial isolates.

Funding

This study is funded by the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laser Biomedical Applications Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Madhya Pradesh, Indore, 452013, India

    Sourabrata Chakraborty, Deepanwita Mohanty, Anupam Chowdhury, Hemant Krishna, Khageswar Sahu & Shovan Kumar Majumder

  2. Sampurna Sodani Diagnostics, Indore, India

    Debjani Taraphdar, Sheetal Chitnis & Sadhna Sodani

  3. Homi Bhaba National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai, 400 094, India

    Khageswar Sahu & Shovan Kumar Majumder

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  1. Sourabrata Chakraborty
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Contributions

SC: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, validation, original draft.

DM: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, validation, original draft.

AC: methodology, investigation, formal analysis, validation.

HK: resources, investigation, validation.

DT: methodology, resources, investigation.

SC: methodology, resources, investigation.

SS: methodology, resources, investigation.

KS: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, review and editing.

SKM: conceptualization, resources, review and editing, project administration, supervision.

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Correspondence to Khageswar Sahu.

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Chakraborty, S., Mohanty, D., Chowdhury, A. et al. In vitro photoinactivation effectiveness of a portable LED device aimed for intranasal photodisinfection and a photosensitizer formulation comprising methylene blue and potassium iodide against bacterial, fungal, and viral respiratory pathogens. Lasers Med Sci 39, 60 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-024-03996-2

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