Abstract
Purpose :
Fungal keratitis represents an important cause of corneal blindness. The emergence of resistant strains, delayed diagnosis, and treatment toxicity requires developing alternative, effective and safe treatment strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the fungicidal activity of BPerox photoactivated by blue light for Cryptococcus neoformans in vitro.
Methods :
Cryptococcus neoformans strain H99 was exposed to BPerox (riboflavin 0.1% + H2O2 0.004%) photoactivated by blue light with a power density of 3 mW/cm2 for 30 min. Cell viability was assessed by colony forming unit (CFU) after 48 hours of incubation at 30°C. Control groups included B2 + Blue light, BPerox + UVA, B2 + UVA, and an untreated sample. Experiments were assayed three times. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis.
Results :
There was a significant difference between the mean fungal load (log CFU/mL) of the BPerox + blue light samples versus the untreated samples (P = 0.0005). There was no statistically significant difference between samples treated with BPerox + blue light and BPerox + UVA (p > 0.9999).
Conclusions :
Photoactivation of BPerox by blue light exerts a significant fungicidal activity on the Cryptococcus neoformans strain tested in this study, and could be considered a potential alternative treatment for corneal infections.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.