Comparative Study Regarding the Properties of Methylene Blue and Proflavine and Their Optimal Concentrations for In Vitro and In Vivo Applications

Abstract

Methylene blue and proflavine are fluorescent dyes used to stain nucleic acid from the molecular level to the tissue level. Already clinically used for sentinel node mapping, detection of neuroendocrine tumors, methemoglobinemia, septic shock, ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy, and photodynamic inactivation of RNA viruses, the antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effect of methylene blue has been demonstrated in different in vitro and in vivo studies. Proflavine was used as a disinfectant and bacteriostatic agent against many gram-positive bacteria, as well as a urinary antiseptic involved in highlighting cell nuclei. At the tissue level, the anti-inflammatory effects of methylene blue protect against pulmonary, renal, cardiac, pancreatic, ischemic-reperfusion lesions, and fevers. First used for their antiseptic and antiviral activity, respectively, methylene blue and proflavine turned out to be excellent dyes for diagnostic and treatment purposes. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that both dyes are efficient as perfusion and tissue tracers and permitted to evaluate the minimal efficient concentration in different species, as well as their pharmacokinetics and toxicity. This review aims to identify the optimal concentrations of methylene blue and proflavine that can be used for in vivo experiments to highlight the vascularization of the skin in the case of a perforasome (both as a tissue tracer and in vascular mapping), as well as their effects on tissues. This review is intended to be a comparative and critical presentation of the possible applications of methylene blue (MB) and proflavine (PRO) in the surgical field, and the relevant biomedical findings from specialized literature to date are discussed as well.

Methylene Blue has a potent antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1 influenza virus in the absence of UV-activation in vitro

“…Methylene Blue (MB) is an FDA and EMA approved drug with an excellent safety profile. Due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antitoxic effects, photoactivated MB is used for a wide range of applications including treatment of methemoglobinemia or malaria (2). Photoactivated MB is also widely used to obtain blood product preparations free of viruses such as HIV (3), Ebola or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS) (4), or SARS-CoV-2 virus (5).…”

Methylene Blue and Proflavine as Intraarterial Marker for Functional Perforazome—Comparative Study

“…Furthermore, the ability of the ICG molecules to bind on the plasma proteins makes this dye to be present only in the circulatory system [ 28 ]. Unlike ICG, MB and PRO have the property of being extracted by cells from blood, thus being a suitable dye for tissue tracer purpose [ 31 , 32 , 33 ]. The studies performed with ICG required the use of a dynamic laser-fluorescence-video angiograph, a digital video camera equipped with an infrared filter, or Fluorescence-Assisted Resection and Exploration system [ 34 ]; therefore, a complicated, difficult to handle and very expensive equipment.…”

A protein interaction map identifies existing drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2

“…Its antiviral proprieties have been attributed to its ability to intercalate into nucleic acids and inactivate RNA viruses. Virus inactivation with Methylene blue was applied in plasma to mitigate the risk of transmission by transfusion in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and Zika virus [40,41]. Methylene blue (also known as Provayblue) is indicated by FDA for the treatment of acquired methemoglobinemia.…”