Light therapy may treat superbug infections in near future

Step ahead to curb Antimicrobial Resistance-Light therapy may treat superbug infections.

Globally Scientists are in constant lookout for non-traditional methods, devices and antimicrobial agents and different have found that light therapy can act as an antibacterial agent against superbug Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The findings were published in the Journal of Advanced Science.

The worldwide emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance is among the most important contemporary health care problems. Indeed, in the past 20 years over 100 antibacterial agents have been developed, with large pharmaceutical companies consistently turning out new generations of drugs from the same therapeutic class.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium is often called a "superbug" due to its ability to dodge many common antibiotics. Some of MRSA infections can be life-threatening, sometimes resulting in the amputation of the infected appendage. With the new research, doctors could soon use a new method for disarming the superbugs: light therapy.

Researchers at Purdue University and Boston University have discovered that exposing the bug to blue light can render it defenceless against antiseptics as mild as hydrogen peroxide.

"This new tool can treat any superficial wound infected with MRSA, which are typically very difficult to treat," said Mohamed Seleem, a professor of microbiology at Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine. "The device itself is very small and easy to use. We're hoping that in the next few years, anyone could carry it around in their purse."

Compared with a Neutrogena light therapy mask for acne, know this is much more portable and sensible. It looks like a small box with a hole for light to come through, which contains the light to the wound.

Some bacteria, including certain strains of staph, produce pigments. These pigments are associated with the organism's ability to damage the host, and if you know how to reduce the pigment, then, you might be able to reduce the organism's activity in the body. This practice is known as photobleaching.

"When you bleach something in the washing machine, you're extracting the color using chemicals. What we're doing here is similar, but we're using blue light," said Seleem, who researches antimicrobial resistance and infectious disease.

After achieving promising results in vitro, the researchers exposed mice with MRSA-infected wounds to different wavelengths of light. The infections responded especially well to light in the blue region and combined with low-concentration hydrogen peroxide, were reduced significantly.