Photodynamic Inactivation of Retrovirus by Benzoporphyrin Derivative: a Feline Leukemia Virus Model

The ability of a photosensitizer, benzoporphyrin derivative monoacid ring A (BPD-MA), and either broad-spectrum (400-1200 nm) or narrow-band (600-700 nm) red light to kill feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and FeLV-infected cat T cells (cell line 3201) was investigated in culture medium containing fetal calf serum and in blood from infected cats. A molecular clone of FeLV, 61E, is minimally pathogenic and productively infects 3201 cells while causing no change in rate of cell division, viability, or size. Active virus (either free or within infected cells) was quantified by using a limiting dilution assay that involved cocultivation of test samples with naive 3201 cells, after which either the polymerase chain reaction or a reverse transcriptase assay was used to detect the presence of virus. It was shown that 61E-infected T cells in culture were slightly more sensitive to photodynamic killing than were uninfected cells. Infected cells and free virus were eliminated from whole blood taken from infected cats by using 4 micrograms per mL of BPD-MA and 40 J per cm2 of red light. These results correlate well with previous results with BPD-MA and vesicular stomatitis virus in whole human blood and suggest that this photosensitizer is a promising agent for the elimination of retroviruses that are either free or located within infected cells in blood.