405 nm light microbicidal efficacy on Treponema pallidum spiked in ex vivo human platelets

Pathogen reduction technologies using chemicals and or UV light have been demonstrated to improve the safety of ex vivo platelets from infectious diseases. However, UV light exposure also may affect the treated products, depending on wavelength and exposure. Alternatively, visible spectra 405 nm violet-blue light has broad-spectrum microbicidal activity. Here we tested the effect of 405 nm light on Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis. We contaminated platelets stored in plasma with two treponemal concentrations (low and high titers) and treated an aliquot with 270 J/cm2 dose (irradiance = 15 mW/cm2) of 405 nm light while another aliquot remained untreated. Next, we inoculated intradermally an aliquot of both samples into rabbits. Rabbits inoculated with untreated samples developed syphilis while animals inoculated with light-treated samples did not. Thus, inactivation was demonstrated to the limit of detection of the bioassay. We estimated > 2 log10 and > 4 log10 reduction in the low and high dose studies, respectively. These results provide proof-of-concept that 405 nm light is effective in reducing syphilis risk in ex vivo platelets.