The virucidal effects of 405 nm visible light on SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus

  1. Raveen Rathnasinghe
  2. Sonia Jangra
  3. Lisa Miorin
  4. Michael Schotsaert
  5. Clifford Yahnke
  6. Adolfo Garcίa-Sastre

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Abstract

The germicidal potential of specific wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum is an area of growing interest. While ultra-violet (UV) based technologies have shown satisfactory virucidal potential, the photo-toxicity in humans coupled with UV associated polymer degradation limit their use in occupied spaces. Alternatively, longer wavelengths with less irradiation energy such as visible light (405 nm) have largely been explored in the context of bactericidal and fungicidal applications. Such studies indicated that 405 nm mediated inactivation is caused by the absorbance of porphyrins within the organism creating reactive oxygen species which result in free radical damage to its DNA and disruption of cellular functions. The virucidal potential of visible-light based technologies has been largely unexplored and speculated to be ineffective given the lack of porphyrins in viruses. The current study demonstrated increased susceptibility of lipid-enveloped respiratory pathogens of importance such as SARS-CoV-2 (causative agent of COVID-19) and influenza A virus to 405 nm, visible light in the absence of exogenous photosensitizers thereby indicating a potential alternative porphyrin-independent mechanism of visible light mediated viral inactivation. These results were obtained using less than expected irradiance levels which are considered safe for humans and commercially achievable. Our results support further exploration of the use of visible light technology for the application of continuous decontamination in occupied areas within hospitals and/or infectious disease laboratories, specifically for the inactivation of respiratory pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A.

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  1. Version published to 10.1038/s41598-021-97797-0
  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.14.435337v3 on bioRxiv
  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.14.435337v2 on bioRxiv
  4. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.14.435337: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Afterwards, plates were immunostained using a monoclonal antibody against SARS-CoV2 nucleoprotein (Creative-Biolabs; NP1C7C7) at a dilution of 1:1000 followed by 1:5000 anti-mouse IgG monoclonal antibody and was developed using KPL TrueBlue peroxidase substrate for 10 minutes (Seracare; 5510-0030).
    SARS-CoV2 nucleoprotein (Creative-Biolabs; NP1C7C7
    suggested: None
    anti-mouse IgG
    suggested: None
    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Amplification of SARS-CoV-2 viral stocks was done in Vero-E6 cell confluent monolayers by using an infection medium composed of DMEM supplemented with 2% HI-FBS, Non-essential amino acids (NEAA), Hepes and penicillin-streptomycin at 37°C with 5% CO2 for 72 hours.
    Vero-E6
    suggested: None
    IAV-PR8 virus was grown and titrated in MDCK as previously described33.
    MDCK
    suggested: None
    As a non-enveloped virus, the cell culture adapted murine Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV; ATCC® VR-12B) was propagated and titrated in Vero-CCL81 cells with DMEM and 2% HI-FBS and penicillin-streptomycin at 37°C with 5% CO2 for 48 hours34.
    Vero-CCL81
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    One limitation of this study is that the inactivation assays were performed in static liquid media as opposed to aerosolized droplets. While the use of visible light in air disinfection has been briefly studied where it was shown that its effectiveness increased approximately 4-fold43, further studies involving dynamic aerosolization are needed to better understand the true potential of visible light mediated viral inactivation. In any case, our study shows the increased susceptibility of enveloped respiratory viral pathogens to 405 nm mediated inactivation in the absence of photosensitizers. The irradiances used in this study are very low and might be easily applied to safely and continuously disinfect occupied areas within hospitals, schools, restaurants, offices and other locations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We found bar graphs of continuous data. We recommend replacing bar graphs with more informative graphics, as many different datasets can lead to the same bar graph. The actual data may suggest different conclusions from the summary statistics. For more information, please see Weissgerber et al (2015).

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  5. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.14.435337v1 on bioRxiv