Antiviral, Antifungal and Antibacterial Activities of a BODIPY-Based Photosensitizer

Antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) employing the BODIPY-based photosensitizer 2,6-diiodo-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-8-(N-methyl-4-pyridyl)-4,4′-difluoro-boradiazaindacene (DIMPy-BODIPY) was explored in an in vitro assay against six species of bacteria (eight total strains), three species of yeast, and three viruses as a complementary approach to their current drug-based or non-existent treatments. Our best results achieved a noteworthy 5–6 log unit reduction in CFU at 0.1 μM for Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC-2913), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (ATCC-44), and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (ATCC-2320), a 4–5 log unit reduction for Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC-19606 (0.25 μM), multidrug resistant A. baumannii ATCC-1605 (0.1 μM), Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC-97 (0.5 μM), and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC-2146 (1 μM), and a 3 log unit reduction for Mycobacterium smegmatis mc(2)155 (ATCC-700084). A 5 log unit reduction in CFU was observed for Candida albicans ATCC-90028 (1 μM) and Cryptococcus neoformans ATCC-64538 (0.5 μM), and a 3 log unit reduction was noted for Candida glabrata ATCC-15545 (1 μM). Infectivity was reduced by 6 log units in dengue 1 (0.1 μM), by 5 log units (0.5 μM) in vesicular stomatitis virus, and by 2 log units (5 μM) in human adenovirus-5. Overall, the results demonstrate that DIMPy-BODIPY exhibits antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal photodynamic inactivation at nanomolar concentrations and short illumination times.