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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2009, p. 1932-1937, Vol. 75, No. 7
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01892-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Inactivation of Bacterial Pathogens following Exposure to Light from a 405-Nanometer Light-Emitting Diode Array{triangledown}

Michelle Maclean,* Scott J. MacGregor, John G. Anderson, and Gerry Woolsey

The Robertson Trust Laboratory for Electronic Sterilisation Technologies, University of Strathclyde, 204 George Street, Glasgow, Scotland

Received 14 August 2008/ Accepted 28 January 2009

This study demonstrates the susceptibility of a variety of medically important bacteria to inactivation by 405-nm light from an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), without the application of exogenous photosensitizer molecules. Selected bacterial pathogens, all commonly associated with hospital-acquired infections, were exposed to the 405-nm LED array, and the results show that both gram-positive and gram-negative species were successfully inactivated, with the general trend showing gram-positive species to be more susceptible than gram-negative bacteria. Detailed investigation of the bactericidal effect of the blue-light treatment on Staphylococcus aureus suspensions, for a range of different population densities, demonstrated that 405-nm LED array illumination can cause complete inactivation at high population densities: inactivation levels corresponding to a 9-log10 reduction were achieved. The results, which show the inactivation of a wide range of medically important bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, demonstrate that, with further development, narrow-spectrum 405-nm visible-light illumination from an LED source has the potential to provide a novel decontamination method with a wide range of potential applications.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: ROLEST, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Royal College Building, 204 George Street, Glasgow, Scotland G1 1XW. Phone: 44 141 548 2891. Fax: 44 141 552 5398. E-mail: michellemaclean{at}eee.strath.ac.uk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 6 February 2009.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2009, p. 1932-1937, Vol. 75, No. 7
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01892-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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