ArticleScientific reports2021
Methylene Blue has a potent antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1 influenza virus in the absence of UV-activation in vitro.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Repurposing Non-Infectious Therapeutic Agents to Aid in the Treatment of Chronic Biofilm Infections.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Novel Wide-Spectrum Virucidal Lipid Nanoparticles.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species: A Unifying Mechanism in Long COVID and Spike Protein-Associated Injury: A Narrative Review.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Membrane-Targeting Antivirals.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Investigating the Effect of Photodynamic Therapy With a 660 nm Laser With Methylene Blue and Cold Atmospheric Plasma Therapy onJournal of lasers in medical sciences · 2025Article
- Methylene Blue Has Strong Extracellular Virucidal Activity Against a SARS-CoV-2-Related Pangolin Coronavirus with No Intracellular or In Vivo Efficacy.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial Activity of Methylene Blue Associated with Photodynamic Therapy: In Vitro Study in Multi-Species Oral Biofilm.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Research Advances on Swine Acute Diarrhea Syndrome Coronavirus.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Review
- Application of methylene blue for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19: A narrative review.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2024Review
- Photodynamic Inactivation of Bovine Coronavirus with the Photosensitizer Toluidine Blue O.Viruses · 2023Article
- Interaction of Methylene Blue with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Envelope Revealed by Molecular Modeling.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Smart stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems in spotlight of COVID-19.Asian journal of pharmaceutical sciences · 2023Review
- Exploring the Anti-Hypoxaemia Effect of Hydromethylthionine: A Prospective Study of Phase 3 Clinical Trial Participants.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Antiviral properties of trans-δ-viniferin derivatives against enveloped viruses.Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie · 2023Article
- Antiviral Properties against SARS-CoV-2 of Nanostructured ZnO Obtained by Green Combustion Synthesis and Coated in Waterborne Acrylic Coatings.Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Novel Approach of Combining Methylene Blue Photodynamic Inactivation, Photobiomodulation and Oral Ingested Methylene Blue in COVID-19 Management: A Pilot Clinical Study with 12-Month Follow-Up.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Potent Virucidal Activity In Vitro of Photodynamic Therapy withPharmaceutics · 2022Article
- Adsorption of Methylene Blue on the Surface of Polymer Membrane; Dependence on the Isotopic Composition of Liquid Matrix.Polymers · 2022Article
- Antiviral Drugs Screening for Swine Acute Diarrhea Syndrome Coronavirus.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Broad-Spectrum Small-Molecule Inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike-ACE2 Protein-Protein Interaction from a Chemical Space of Privileged Protein Binders.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Methylene blue is an FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and EMA (European Medicines Agency) approved drug with an excellent safety profile. It displays broad-spectrum virucidal activity in the presence of UV light and has been shown to be effective in inactivating various viruses in blood products prior to transfusions. In addition, its use has been validated for methemoglobinemia and malaria treatment. In this study, we first evaluated the virucidal activity of methylene blue against influenza virus H1N1 upon different incubation times and in the presence or absence of light activation, and then against SARS-CoV-2. We further assessed the therapeutic activity of methylene blue by administering it to cells previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. Finally, we examined the effect of co-administration of the drug together with immune serum. Our findings reveal that methylene blue displays virucidal preventive or therapeutic activity against influenza virus H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2 at low micromolar concentrations and in the absence of UV-activation. We also confirm that MB antiviral activity is based on several mechanisms of action as the extent of genomic RNA degradation is higher in presence of light and after long exposure. Our work supports the interest of testing methylene blue in clinical studies to confirm a preventive and/or therapeutic efficacy against both influenza virus H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2 infections.
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