TB exhibits a greater bactericidal activity than MB against most bacteria in dark and light conditions. Mostly, these results are consistent with their respective dye partition coefficients.

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Toluidine blue interacts with LPS more significantly than methylene blue in vitro. This may be one of the main factors determining its greater photobactericidal efficacy against gram-negative bacteria.

Background Chronic recurrent sinusitis (CRS) is an inflammatory disease of the facial sinuses and nasal passages that is defined as lasting longer than 12 weeks or occurring more than 4 times per year with symptoms usually lasting more than 20 days. The National Institute for Health Statistics estimates that CRS is one of the most common chronic conditions in the United States affecting an estimated 37 million Americans. The potential etiologies of CRS include bacteria, viruses, allergies, fungi, superantigens and microbial biofilms. In clinical practice there is a significant subpopulation of patients with CRS who remain resistant to cure despite rigorous treatment regimens including surgery, allergy therapy and prolonged antibiotic therapy. The reason for treatment failure is thought to be related to the destruction of the sinus mucociliary defense by the chronic sinus infection resulting in the development of secondary antibiotic resistant microbial colonization of the sinuses and biofilm formation. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is a non-antibiotic broad spectrum antimicrobial treatment that has been demonstrated to eradicate antibiotic resistant bacteria and biofilms. Objective The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a non-invasive aPDT treatment method of eradicating antibiotic resistant biofilms/microorganisms known to cause CRS in an in vitro model. Methods Antibiotic resistant planktonic bacteria and fungi and polymicrobial biofilms of Pseudomonas aerugenosa and MRSA were grown on silastic sheets and treated with a methylene blue photosensitizer and 670nm non-thermal activating light. Cultures of the planktonic micoroorganisms and biofilms were obtained before and after light treatment to determine efficacy of planktonic baciteria and biofilm reduction. Results The in vitro CRS planktonic microorganism and biofilm study demonstrated that aPDT reduced the CRS polymicrobial biofilm by >99.9% after a single treatment. Conclusions aPDT can effectively treat CRS polymicrobial antibiotic resistant bacteria, fungi and biofilms both in vivo. Human clinical studies are currently planned to assess the safety and efficacy of this treatment for CRS.