key: cord-0913174-sgvbfr1u
authors: Evora, Paulo Roberto B.
title: COVID-19 should be a methylene blue “promoter”
date: 2020
journal: Braz J Cardiovasc Surg
DOI: 10.21470/1678-9741-1-2020-0607
sha: ab09bdd98e1dd2c21700a5335293ff2a3bd6211a
doc_id: 913174
cord_uid: sgvbfr1u

nan

underestimated at least for more than 100 years. However, many health professionals named MB as a "rescue magic bullet. " I saw COVID-19 inside this scenario and, last March, I wrote a letter to the Lancet' s Editor-in-Chief entitled "SHOULD METHYLENE BLUE CONSIDERED AS 'RESCUE MAGIC BULLET' AGAINST THE NEW CORONAVIRUS?"

The MB/light-based method has been used routinely in Europe for about 17 to 18 years. Plasma units from blood donations are illuminated with visible light in the presence of MB. The MB/light-treated generates singlet oxygen, which leads to the destruction of viral nucleic acids. Emerging groups include severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) and Nipah virus (NiV), which have been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as major infectious threats with the potential to cause a global pandemic [1] [2] [3] . Paul Ehrlich, obsessed with structural organic chemistry and dyes, elaborated his theory regarding the discovery of a "magic bullet". Based on all of his scientific discoveries, he won the Nobel Prize in 1908, with an emphasis on the treatment of malaria with MB. Should MB, a precursor to hydroxychloroquine, be a "rescue magic bullet" against the new coronavirus? If someone chooses to test the idea, I suggest, as a therapeutic test, an initial IV bolus of 1 mg/ kg. In our experience in the treatment of vasoplegic syndrome, the highest dose is 7 mg/kg in continuous IV infusion [4] .

The Lancet Global Health, on this occasion, decided not to publish the letter because they believe "the message would be better suited elsewhere". I agreed with the decision and, during my COVID-19 quarantine, I kept my routine Google consulting "methylene blue and COVID-19". Suddenly… an explosion of almost three million papers (Figure 1 ).

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Inactivation of three emerging viruses -severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus and Nipah virus -in platelet concentrates by ultraviolet C light and in plasma by methylene blue plus visible light

Emerging infectious disease agents and their potential threat to transfusion safety

Current perspectives in transfusion-transmitted infectious diseases: emerging and re-emerging infections

Twenty years of vasoplegic syndrome treatment in heart surgery. Methylene blue revised