Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29124710›Full record

ReviewAdvances in experimental medicine and biology2017

Ultraviolet Irradiation of Blood: "The Cure That Time Forgot"?

Michael R Hamblin

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
33.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Use of Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation Against Viral Infections.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2021
    Review
  4. COVID-19 and the ethnicity link - is there a photochemical link?Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology · 2021
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. "Photobiomics": Can Light, Including Photobiomodulation, Alter the Microbiome?Photobiomodulation, photomedicine, and laser surgery · 2019
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Michael R HamblinWellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. Hamblin@helix.mgh.harvard.edu.
Massachusetts General Hospital · US

Funding

Photodynamic Therapy of Localized InfectionsR01AI050875 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI HAMBLIN, MICHAEL R · 2003 to 2017
$4.8M
Synergistic Photodynamic Therapy for Catherer-Associated Urinary Tract InfectionsR21AI121700 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI HAMBLIN, MICHAEL R · 2016 to 2017
$462k
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI050875NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI121700
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ultraviolet blood irradiation (UBI) was extensively used in the 1940s and 1950s to treat many diseases including septicemia, pneumonia, tuberculosis, arthritis, asthma and even poliomyelitis. The early studies were carried out by several physicians in USA and published in the American Journal of Surgery. However with the development of antibiotics, UBI use declined and it has now been called "the cure that time forgot". Later studies were mostly performed by Russian workers and in other Eastern countries and the modern view in Western countries is that UBI remains highly controversial.This chapter discusses the potential of UBI as an alternative approach to current methods used to treat infections, as an immune-modulating therapy and as a method for normalizing blood parameters. No resistance of microorganisms to UV irradiation has been reported, and multi-antibiotic resistant strains are as susceptible as their wild-type counterparts. Low and mild doses of UV kill microorganisms by damaging the DNA, while any DNA damage in host cells can be rapidly repaired by DNA repair enzymes. However the use of UBI to treat septicemia cannot be solely due to UV-mediated killing of bacteria in the blood-stream, as only 5-7% of blood volume needs to be treated with UV to produce the optimum benefit. UBI may enhance the phagocytic capacity of various phagocytic cells (neutrophils and dendritic cells), inhibit lymphocytes, and oxidize blood lipids. The oxidative nature of UBI may have mechanisms in common with ozone therapy and other oxygen therapies. There may be some similarities to extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) using psoralens and UVA irradiation. However there are differences between UBI and ECP in that UBI tends to stimulate the immune system, while ECP tends to be immunosuppressive. With the recent emergence of bacteria that are resistant to all known antibiotics, UBI should be more investigated as an alternative approach to infections, and as an immune-modulating therapy.

Indexed as

Ultraviolet RaysAnimalsBacteriaBacterial InfectionsBacterial LoadBloodDNA, BacterialDNA DamageHumansMicrobial ViabilityPhotopheresisTreatment OutcomeUltraviolet TherapyDNA, BacterialAntigen-presenting cellsBlood cellsCytokinesDNA repairInfectionsKnott hemo-irradiatorUBIUltraviolet C

Identifiers

PMID29124710
PMCPMC6122858
OpenAlexW2767579851

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.