Effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy using rose bengal and blue light-emitting diode on : Influence of oxygen during treatment.

A combination of rose bengal (RB) and blue LED (BL) has emerged as a new technical modality for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (a-PDT). The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of oxygen on the antimicrobial effect of RB + BL treatment on cells were treated with RB, BL (450-470 nm; 1 W/cm, 5 s), or RB + BL under anaerobic/aerobic conditions. Cells were incubated anaerobically, and the cell density (OD) was measured after 6-48 h. Additionally, cells were cultured anaerobically on blood agar plates for 9 days, and the resulting colonies were observed. Bacterial growth within 1 h of aerobic RB + BL treatment was examined, and RNA degradation due to anaerobic/aerobic RB + BL treatment was measured after 3 h of culture. Under anaerobic conditions, RB + BL significantly suppressed bacterial growth after 18 h; however, the growth after 48 h and the number of colonies after 9 days were similar to those of the untreated control. RNA degradation in the anaerobic-treatment group was not significantly different from that in the control. Under aerobic conditions, RB + BL immediately affected bacterial growth and completely inhibited growth for up to 48 h. Few colonies were detected even after 9 days of culture, and RNA was completely degraded. Unlike the bacteriostatic effect of anaerobic treatment, aerobic RB + BL treatment may have a bactericidal action via a-PDT effect, resulting in the destruction of RNA and bacterial cells within a short period.