Photo-inactivation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: A paradigm changing approach for combating antibiotic-resistant gonococcal infection

摘要

Antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major issue of public health, and there is a critical need for thedevelopment of new anti-gonococcal strategies. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of antimicrobial bluelight (aBL; 405 nm wavelength), an innovative non-pharmacological approach, for the inactivation of N. gonorrhoeae.Our findings indicated that aBL preferentially inactivated N. gonorrhoeae, including antibiotic-resistant strains, overhuman vaginal epithelial cells in vitro. Furthermore, no genotoxicity of aBL to the vaginal epithelial cells was observedat the radiant exposure for inactivating N. gonorrhoeae. aBL also effectively inactivated N. gonorrhoeae that had attachedto and invaded into the vaginal epithelial cells in their co-cultures. No gonococcal resistance to aBL developedafter 15 successive cycles of sub-therapeutic aBL inactivation. Taken together, aBL represents a potent potential treatmentfor antibiotic-resistant gonococcal infection.