Gentian Violet: a 19th century drug re‐emerges in the 21st century

Abstract

Gentian violet (GV) has a long and varied history as a medicinal agent. Historically used as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, recent reports have shown its utility as an anti-typranosomal, anti-viral and anti-angiogenic agent. The objective of this paper is to summarize evidence regarding the efficacy, and safety of GV use in dermatology. Recent discoveries have found novel targets of GV, namely NADPH oxidase in mammalian cells and thioredoxin reductase 2 in bacterial, fungal, and parasitic cells. These discoveries have expanded the use of GV in the 21st century. Given that GV is well tolerated, effective and inexpensive, its use in dermatology is predicted to increase.

In Vivo Biocompatibility and In Vitro Efficacy of Antimicrobial Gendine-Coated Central Catheters

“…With that said, the inflammatory and thrombotic changes observed in the control (untreated) catheters tended to exhibit increased severity compared to that of the gendine-coated catheters, although there were overlapping variations. Gentian violet has been reported in mammalian cells to inhibit NADPH oxidases, leading to NF-B inhibition and anti-inflammatory activity (55), which might be a contributing factor.…”

“…A clinical trial studying the topical treatment of full-and partial-thickness wounds with 1% gentian violet in 70 geriatric patients found no adverse events related to gentian violet, and Ͼ90% of the wounds completely healed (57). A recent review reports the clinical use of gentian violet at concentrations of Ն0.1% in complex dermatology patients and in the treatment of skin cancer (55), and this was well tolerated with successful outcomes. This study has a number of limitations.…”

White Light-Activated Antimicrobial Paint using Crystal Violet

“…The generation of 1 O2 and ROS is directly related to light intensity 47,48 . In addition, the dyes have somewhat lower or no antimicrobial activity in the absence of light [49][50][51] . The antimicrobial activity of CV, TBO, and MB dyes is dependent on their concentration, the exposure time, and the intensity of the light source 52,53 .…”

New Treatment for Percutaneous Sites in Patients with a Ventricular Assist Device: Nihon University Crystal Violet Method

“…10) Methylrosanilinium chloride is cheap, shows antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and is listed among the WHO Essential Medicines as a safe antimicrobial agent. After long neglect, methylrosanilinium chloride has recently been rediscovered and is currently used to treat prosthetic graft infection 11,12) and decubitus ulcer 13) due to its potent antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).…”