A novel ultraviolet illumination used in riboflavin photochemical method to inactivate drug-resistant bacteria in blood components.

Ultraviolet (UV) fluorescent lamp (FL) was applied in mainstream riboflavin photochemical method (RPM) to inactivate pathogens in blood components. Low UV irradiance emitted by UV-FL resulted in more time to achieve effective inactivation. A novel light emitting diode (LED) UV illumination with adjustable irradiance was developed by us. Two strains of drug-resistant bacteria (DRB), pan-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (PDRAB) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were cultured and used for evaluating the inactivation effectiveness of RPM using UV-LED or UV-FL against DRB in plasma or platelets. Three plasma factors and four platelet parameters were measured after treatments. There was a linear relationship between UV-LED irradiance and electric current, the minimum UV irradiance was 24 mW/cm2, and the maximum was 258 mW/cm2. At the same UV dose of 15 J/cm2, inactivation effectiveness of UV-LED with 258 mW/cm2 against PDRAB in plasma or platelets were comparable to that of UV-FL with 16 mW/cm2, both above 98%. UV-FL treatment required 10-15 min, but UV-LED only required 1-2 min. However, MRSA showed a resistance to UV-LED (inactivation effectiveness was around 40%) compared with UV-FL (inactivation effectiveness was above 98%). The retention of fibrinogen, factor V, factor VII in plasma and platelet counts in platelets with UV-LED treatment were significantly higher than UV-FL at the same UV dose. The treatment of RPM using UV-LED with high UV irradiance was able to dramatically shorten inactivation time against PDRAB in plasma or platelets and improve retention of blood components compared with UV-FL.