RETRACTED ARTICLE: Methylene blue photochemical treatment as a reliable SARS-CoV-2 plasma virus inactivation method for blood safety and convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19
Authors: Changzhong Jin
Bin Yu
Miao Jiang
Fumin Liu
Hao Wu
Nanping Wu
Xiangyun Lu
Xipeng Zhou
Jie Zhang
Linfang Cheng
Hangping Yao
Journal: BMC Infectious Diseases (2021)
Discipline: IMMUNOLOGY
Keywords: Blood safety; COVID-19; Convalescent plasma therapy; Methylene blue; Photochemical treatment
Affiliations: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease, National Medical Center for Infectious Disease, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou, 310003, China., Boxin (Beijing) Biotechnology Development LTD, 4/F, Tower B, Siemens Building, No. 7 South Central Road, Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. ., Ministry of Education Key Lab of Hazard Assessment and Control in Special Operational Environment, Preventive Medicine Institute, Air force Medical University, Xi'an, China., Boxin (Beijing) Biotechnology Development LTD, 4/F, Tower B, Siemens Building, No. 7 South Central Road, Wangjing, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China., State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease, National Medical Center for Infectious Disease, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou, 310003, China. .

Abstract:  Background: In 2020, a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, quickly spread worldwide within a few months. Although coronaviruses typically infect the upper or lower respiratory tract, the virus RNA can be detected in plasma. The risk of transmitting coronavirus via transfusion of blood products remains. As more asymptomatic infections are identified in COVID-19 cases, blood safety has become particularly important. Methylene blue (MB) photochemical technology has been proven to inactivate lipid-enveloped viruses with high efficiency and safety. The present study aimed to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 inactivation effects of MB in plasma. Methods: The SARS-CoV-2 virus strain was isolated from Zhejiang University. The live virus was harvested from cultured VERO-E6 cells, and mixed with MB in plasma. The MB final concentrations were 0, 1, 2, and 4 μM. The "BX-1 AIDS treatment instrument" was used at room temperature, the illumination adjusted to 55,000 ± 0.5 million Lux, and the plasma was irradiated for 0, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 40 mins using light at a single wavelength of 630 nm. Virus load changes were measured using quantitative reverse transcription- PCR. Results: BX-1 could effectively eliminate SARS-CoV-2 within 2 mins in plasma, and the virus titer declined to 4.5 log10 TCID50 (median tissue culture infectious dose)/mL. Conclusion: BX-1 is based on MB photochemical technology, which was designed to inactivate HIV-1 virus in plasma. It was proven to be safe and reliable in clinical trials of HIV treatment. In this study, we showed that BX-1 could also be applied to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. During the current outbreak, this technique it has great potential for ensuring the safety of blood transfusions, for plasma transfusion therapy in recovering patients, and for preparing inactivated vaccines. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 Could the authors please check Figure 1? * Red boxes: two panels appear to show an overlap * Yellow boxes: two panels appear to show an overlap In total, four panels that are represented as different experiments all appear to showing the same cells. But the legend is a bit confusing (e.g. row E is  no light but results are presented without and with light), so maybe all four are showing the same experiment? ![file] ![file] , 
 Figure 2. * These curves and error bars look beautiful. Do the authors mind sharing their raw measurements, please? ![file] , 
  Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. ![file] The method of this paper involves treating cells with methylene blue (MB) first, and then beaming them with 670 nm light. MB absorbs the light energy, transfers it to nucleic acids, and thus kills viruses. The treatment is performed in an  BX-1 AIDS treatment instrument . The introduction clarifies that  The u2018BX-1 AIDS treatment instrumentu2019, developed by Boxin Biotechnology Development LTD (Beijing, China), uses LED single wavelength light combined with MB and is highly effective at killing various lipid enveloped viruses, such as HIV-1 and other viruses. Yet, three of the authors work at a company called  Boxin (Beijing) Biotechnology Development LTD . Overall it appears that this instrument that so beautifully kills coronaviruses (look at Figure 2 in comment #2) is developed by the same company as where some of the authors work. Can the authors please explain how they could still declare there were no competing interests? References 18 and 19 both are Chinese patents. There appear to be quite some competing interests here. ![file] , 
 In Figure 2, do the green (virus control) and black (no MB) lines overlap? And do the error bars show standard deviation or standard error? I was not sure. , 
 Copy pasted from https: doi.org 10.1186 s12879-021-06344-9 :  Retraction Note: BMC Infect Dis 21, 357 (2021). The editor has retracted this article. Following publication concerns were raised regarding Fig. 1, specifically: The Light 0u2009min panel for Virus Control appears to partially overlap with the Light 0u2009min panel for 1uM MB No light. The Light 0u2009min panel for 1um MB No light appears to partially overlap with the Light 40 Min panel of the same row, and partially overlap with the Light 0 Min panel for No MB. In addition, the authors Bin Yu, Jie Zhang, Hao Wu, Xipeng Zhou and Miao Jiang did not appropriately declare a competing interest regarding their affiliation with Boxin (Beijing) Biotechnology Development LTD and its product u2018BX-1 AIDS treatment instrumentu2019 as described in this article. The editor therefore no longer has confidence in the reliability of the data reported in the article. Changzhong Jin, Bin Yu, Jie Zhang, Hangping Yao, Fumin Liu, Xiangyun Lu, Linfang Cheng, Miao Jiang and Nanping Wu do not agree to this retraction. Hao Wu and Xipeng Zhou have not responded to any correspondence from the editor about this retraction. Published 09 July 2021. See also https: retractionwatch.com 2021 07 15 paper-from-company-claiming-phototherapy-could-treat-covid-19-is-retracted , 
 The figure was misused and the competing interests have been corrected and reclaimed on the revised version. WE DID NOT GIVE ANY CONSENT TO THIS RETRACTION! This is seriously violating our rights! ,