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The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health
Visible blue light of wavelengths in the 400–470 nm range has been observed to have microbicidal properties. A widely accepted hypothesis for the mechanism of microbial inactivation by visible blue light is that the light causes photoexcitation of either endogenous (present within the microbe) or, e...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9353137/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35935800 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.905606 |
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author | Haridas, Devika Atreya, Chintamani D. |
author_facet | Haridas, Devika Atreya, Chintamani D. |
author_sort | Haridas, Devika |
collection | PubMed |
description | Visible blue light of wavelengths in the 400–470 nm range has been observed to have microbicidal properties. A widely accepted hypothesis for the mechanism of microbial inactivation by visible blue light is that the light causes photoexcitation of either endogenous (present within the microbe) or, exogenous (present in the biological medium surrounding the microbe) photosensitizers such as porphyrins and flavins, which leads to the release of reactive oxygen species that subsequently manifests microbicidal activity. Some of the factors that have been observed to be associated with enhanced microbicidal action include increased duration of exposure, and either pre- or co-treatment with quinine hydrochloride. In case of bacteria, repetitive exposure to the blue light shows no significant evidence of resistance development. Additionally, visible blue light has exhibited the ability to inactivate fungal and viral pathogens and, multidrug-resistant bacteria as well as bacterial biofilms. Visible blue light has demonstrated efficacy in eliminating foodborne pathogens found on food surfaces and exposed surfaces in the food processing environment as well as in the decontamination of surfaces in the clinical environment to minimize the spread of nosocomial infections. We conclude from reviewing existing literature on the application of the blue light in clinical medicine and public health settings that this microbicidal light is emerging as a safer alternative to conventional ultraviolet light-based technologies in multiple settings. However, further comprehensive studies and thorough understanding of the mechanism of microbicidal action of this light in different scenarios is warranted to determine its place in human health and disease. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9353137 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-93531372022-08-06 The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health Haridas, Devika Atreya, Chintamani D. Front Med (Lausanne) Medicine Visible blue light of wavelengths in the 400–470 nm range has been observed to have microbicidal properties. A widely accepted hypothesis for the mechanism of microbial inactivation by visible blue light is that the light causes photoexcitation of either endogenous (present within the microbe) or, exogenous (present in the biological medium surrounding the microbe) photosensitizers such as porphyrins and flavins, which leads to the release of reactive oxygen species that subsequently manifests microbicidal activity. Some of the factors that have been observed to be associated with enhanced microbicidal action include increased duration of exposure, and either pre- or co-treatment with quinine hydrochloride. In case of bacteria, repetitive exposure to the blue light shows no significant evidence of resistance development. Additionally, visible blue light has exhibited the ability to inactivate fungal and viral pathogens and, multidrug-resistant bacteria as well as bacterial biofilms. Visible blue light has demonstrated efficacy in eliminating foodborne pathogens found on food surfaces and exposed surfaces in the food processing environment as well as in the decontamination of surfaces in the clinical environment to minimize the spread of nosocomial infections. We conclude from reviewing existing literature on the application of the blue light in clinical medicine and public health settings that this microbicidal light is emerging as a safer alternative to conventional ultraviolet light-based technologies in multiple settings. However, further comprehensive studies and thorough understanding of the mechanism of microbicidal action of this light in different scenarios is warranted to determine its place in human health and disease. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-07-22 /pmc/articles/PMC9353137/ /pubmed/35935800 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.905606 Text en Copyright © 2022 Haridas and Atreya. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Medicine Haridas, Devika Atreya, Chintamani D. The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health |
title | The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health |
title_full | The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health |
title_fullStr | The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health |
title_full_unstemmed | The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health |
title_short | The microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health |
title_sort | microbicidal potential of visible blue light in clinical medicine and public health |
topic | Medicine |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9353137/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35935800 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.905606 |
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