title: In defence of 'dye therapy'.
abstract: Worldwide, healthcare is facing enormous problems with the continuing rise of drug-resistant infectious diseases. In view of the scarcity of new antimicrobial agents and the withdrawal of many pharmaceutical houses from the fray, alternative approaches are required. One of these is photoantimicrobial chemotherapy, which is highly effective across the range of microbial pathogens and does not suffer from resistance. However, there is a lack of uptake of this approach by healthcare providers and the pharmaceutical industry alike. It is seldom recalled that, unlike anticancer photodynamic therapy, the development of photoantimicrobial agents has evolved from the antiseptic 'dye therapy' in common use until the widespread introduction of the penicillin class in the mid-1940s. Cationic biological dyes such as methylene blue, crystal violet and acriflavine were effective in local wound therapy and today provide a sound basis for light-activated antimicrobial therapeutics. It is proposed that such 'safe' dyes are introduced as locally administered photoantimicrobials, especially in order to conserve valuable conventional antibacterial drugs.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK. Electronic address: mark_wainwright@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wainwright
mesh_terms: D000167:Acriflavine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005840:Gentian Violet / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010038:Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004396:Coloring Agents; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D000167:Acriflavine; D005840:Gentian Violet; D008751:Methylene Blue
keywords: Drug resistance; Dye therapy; Flavine; Photoantimicrobial; Wound sepsis