RETRACTED ARTICLE: Methylene blue photochemical treatment as a reliable SARS-CoV-2 plasma virus inactivation method for blood safety and convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19

BMC Infectious Diseases

Bin Yu¹  Hao Wu¹  Xipeng Zhou¹  Miao Jiang¹  Jie Zhang²  Xiangyun Lu³  Hangping Yao³  Fumin Liu³  Nanping Wu³  Changzhong Jin³  Linfang Cheng³ 

[1] Boxin (Beijing) Biotechnology Development LTD, 4/F, Tower B, Siemens Building, No. 7 South Central Road, Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China;Ministry of Education Key Lab of Hazard Assessment and Control in Special Operational Environment, Preventive Medicine Institute, Air force Medical University, Xi’an, China;State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease, National Medical Center for Infectious Disease, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 310003, Hangzhou, China;

关键词: Methylene blue;    Photochemical treatment;    SARS-CoV-2;    Plasma virus inactivation;    Blood safety;    Convalescent plasma therapy;    COVID-19;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12879-021-05993-0

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn 2020, a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, quickly spread worldwide within a few months. Although coronaviruses typically infect the upper or lower respiratory tract, the virus RNA can be detected in plasma. The risk of transmitting coronavirus via transfusion of blood products remains. As more asymptomatic infections are identified in COVID-19 cases, blood safety has become particularly important. Methylene blue (MB) photochemical technology has been proven to inactivate lipid-enveloped viruses with high efficiency and safety. The present study aimed to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 inactivation effects of MB in plasma.MethodsThe SARS-CoV-2 virus strain was isolated from Zhejiang University. The live virus was harvested from cultured VERO-E6 cells, and mixed with MB in plasma. The MB final concentrations were 0, 1, 2, and 4 μM. The “BX-1 AIDS treatment instrument” was used at room temperature, the illumination adjusted to 55,000 ± 0.5 million Lux, and the plasma was irradiated for 0, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 40 mins using light at a single wavelength of 630 nm. Virus load changes were measured using quantitative reverse transcription- PCR.ResultsBX-1 could effectively eliminate SARS-CoV-2 within 2 mins in plasma, and the virus titer declined to 4.5 log10 TCID50 (median tissue culture infectious dose)/mL.ConclusionBX-1 is based on MB photochemical technology, which was designed to inactivate HIV-1 virus in plasma. It was proven to be safe and reliable in clinical trials of HIV treatment. In this study, we showed that BX-1 could also be applied to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. During the current outbreak, this technique it has great potential for ensuring the safety of blood transfusions, for plasma transfusion therapy in recovering patients, and for preparing inactivated vaccines.

【 授权许可】

CC BY