Abstract
Methylene blue (MB) is a century-old medicine, a laboratory dye, and recently shown as a premier antioxidant that combats ROS-induced cellular aging in human skins. Given MB’s molecular structure and light absorption properties, we hypothesize that MB has the potential to be considered as a sunscreen active for UV radiation protection. In this study, we tested the effects of MB on UVB ray-induced DNA double-strand breaks in primary human keratinocytes. We found that MB treatment reduced DNA damages caused by UVB irradiation and subsequent cell death. Next, we compared MB with Oxybenzone, which is the most commonly used chemical active ingredient in sunscreens but recently proven to be hazardous to aquatic ecosystems, in particular to coral reefs. At the same concentrations, MB showed more effective UVB absorption ability than Oxybenzone and significantly outperformed Oxybenzone in the prevention of UVB-induced DNA damage and the clearance of UVA-induced cellular ROS. Furthermore, unlike Oxybenzone, MB-containing seawater did not affect the growth of the coral species Xenia umbellata. Altogether, our study suggests that MB has the potential to be a coral reef-friendly sunscreen active ingredient that can provide broad-spectrum protection against UVA and UVB.
Highlights
Methylene blue (MB) is a century-old medicine, a laboratory dye, and recently shown as a premier antioxidant that combats ROS-induced cellular aging in human skins
Primary human skin keratinocytes were pre-treated with 100 nM MB for two weeks and exposed to 0, 5, 10, and 20 s of UVB rays at 1 W/cm[2], which resulted in irradiation dosages of 0, 5, 10, and 20 J/cm[2] (Fig. 1A)
Our previous work indicated that MB activates the DNA damage repair pathway inside the cell, possibly through activating DNA damage repair pathways[11]
Summary
Methylene blue (MB) is a century-old medicine, a laboratory dye, and recently shown as a premier antioxidant that combats ROS-induced cellular aging in human skins. Our study suggests that MB has the potential to be a coral reef-friendly sunscreen active ingredient that can provide broad-spectrum protection against UVA and UVB. Multiple studies have shown that Oxybenzone is a significant hazard for aquatic ecosystems and expedites the destruction of coral reefs[8,9], which are essential for aquatic biodiversity and are considered “the rain forest of the sea”. These compounds have been found entering the ocean environment through wastewater effluent or directly from umd.edu. Florida, California, the US Virgin Islands, Australia, Mexico Bonaire, Palau, and Aruba have joined the ever-growing list of concerned states and countries
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