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

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 log 10 ) 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.