Susceptibility of Candida albicans to photodynamic therapy using methylene blue and toluidine blue as photosensitizing dyes.

The increased resistance of Candida albicans to antibiotic therapy indicates the need for alternative treatments for oral candidiasis. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been researched as an alternative tool to inactivate pathogenic microorganisms. It uses a combination of a photosensitizer and a visible light source. This study evaluated the susceptibility of C. albicans to PDT and compared the efficacy of 100 microg/mL methylene blue (MB) and toluidine blue (TB) as photosensitizers. The light source was Indium-Gallium-Aluminum Phosphide (InGaAIP) laser at 53 J/cm2. Suspensions of 108 cells/mL of C. albicans were subject to PDT for 5 minutes in 96-well plates, then decimal dilutions were plated on Sabouraud Dextrose agar After 48h incubation at 37 degreesC, the number of CFU/mL were obtained and submitted to statistical analysis using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, ANOVA (p<0.0001) and Tukey tests. The results showed that MB or laser irradiation alone did not have statistically significant antifungal activity compared to the positive control group (p> 0. 05). Conversely, the number of viable C. albicans cells was reduced significantly after PDT using MB or mainly TB associated to diode laser irradiation. The data proved the efficacy of PDT against C. albicans cells, regardless of the photosensitizer used.