Bacteria-specific phototoxic reactions triggered by blue light and edible carvacrol

Bacteria-specific phototoxic reactions were triggered by blue light (BL) and edible carvacrol leading to safe and broad spectrum of bactericide, in sharp contrast to anti-microbial photodynamic therapy that has a relatively poor selection. While anti-microbial photodynamic therapy triggers the generation of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) in both bacteria and mammalian cells, BL paired with carvacrol induced phototoxic reactions resulting in robust ROS generation only in bacteria, as demonstrated by UPLC-VION-IMS-QTOF-MS/MS analyses in vivo and in vitro. This highly selective phototoxic reaction represents a unique strategy to combat the growing threat of MDR bacteria