Discover how ultraviolet blood irradiation (UBI) — a 1930s therapy re-emerging as an immune-modulating treatment — may support infection control, immune response, and chronic disease management.
Ultraviolet blood irradiation (UBI) was extensively used in the 1940s and 1950s to treat conditions such as septicemia, pneumonia, tuberculosis, arthritis, asthma, and even poliomyelitis. Early studies were conducted by several U.S. physicians and published in the American Journal of Surgery. With the advent of antibiotics, UBI declined and has since been called “the cure that time forgot.” Later research was carried out mainly in Russia and other Eastern countries, and UBI remains highly controversial in Western medicine.
No microbial resistance to UV irradiation has been reported; multi-drug–resistant strains appear as susceptible as wild-type counterparts. Low-dose UV kills microorganisms by damaging their DNA, while host-cell DNA repair enzymes can usually correct similar damage quickly. Because only 5–7 % of total blood volume needs UV exposure for a clinical effect, the benefit in septicemia is unlikely to come from simple bacterial killing in the bloodstream. UBI may instead enhance the phagocytic activity of neutrophils and dendritic cells, dampen lymphocyte function, and oxidize blood lipids. These oxidative effects may overlap with mechanisms proposed for ozone and other oxygen-based therapies.
Ultraviolet radiation occupies the 100–400 nm region of the electromagnetic spectrum, shorter than visible light (400–700 nm) but longer than x-rays (<100 nm). It is subdivided into vacuum UV (100–200 nm), UVC (200–280 nm), UVB (280–315 nm), and UVA (315–400 nm). Wavelengths below 280 nm are largely absorbed by the atmosphere, especially the ozone layer, so only part of UVB and all UVA reach Earth’s surface.
In the late nineteenth century, therapeutic sunlight (“heliotherapy”) gained popularity. In 1855, Swiss physician Rikli opened a thermal station in Veldes, Slovenia, to provide such treatment. In 1877, Downes and Blunt observed by chance that sunlight could kill bacteria: sugar water left on a windowsill turned cloudy in the shade but stayed clear in the sun, and microscopy confirmed bacterial growth only in the shaded sample.
Emmett K. Knott in Seattle hypothesized that the benefits of skin irradiation might arise from UV exposure of blood in superficial dermal capillaries. With collaborator Edblom he built a quartz-windowed irradiation chamber containing a labyrinth of channels that created turbulent flow. The turbulence prevented a thin film of blood from shielding underlying layers and helped ensure uniform UV exposure as blood passed through the device.
PubMed search for ultraviolet blood irradiation studies FDA device database
For almost 90 years, the main barrier to wider acceptance of UBI has been uncertainty about how it works. Because UV light sterilizes water and instruments, many assume it must act by directly killing pathogens in blood; yet this has never been proved, and the broad list of conditions reportedly improved has added to the skepticism.
In vitro work shows that UBI can alter red-cell and leukocyte function. Examples include enhanced stimulation in mixed-leukocyte cultures and helper activity in mitogen-stimulated cultures. Irradiation may also dampen cytokine release and disturb membrane mobility.
Anaerobic conditions markedly inhibit UV-induced loss of K+ from erythrocytes. Experiments using 60–300 min of exposure found falling ATP and rising ADP, AXP, and free adenine, together with greater hypotonic Na+/K+ exchange and a higher hematocrit. A two-phase dextran polymer system further showed a reduction in surface charge, an effect linked to longer survival of transfused, UV-treated autologous cells.
UBI generally lowers lymphocyte viability, with UVC the most efficient spectrum. UVB/UVC can abolish proliferation, accessory/antigen-presenting activity, and modify surface properties, calcium flux, and cytokine output. Using the Comet assay, Arlett et al. showed that circulating T cells are unusually sensitive to UV-B DNA damage, suggesting one route by which UV-B might suppress immunity.
H2O2 generation in platelets remains low below 0.4 J/cm² but rises sharply thereafter. Pamphilon found that UV-irradiated platelet concentrates stored five days in Stericell bags became less immunogenic, with higher lactate, β-thrombomodulin, and platelet factor 4, and lower glucose (3000 J/m², 310 nm mean). UVB also accelerated CD14 down-regulation and nonspecific monocyte loss while limiting ICAM-1 and HLA-DR up-regulation, overall reducing the immunologic response to the concentrate.
There are a few points to weigh before investing in a UVC wand or other UVC devices.
Safety comes first. Experts note that UVC can damage skin cells in the same way it kills microbes, potentially causing mutations that might lead to skin cancer. Direct viewing of UVC light can also cause permanent eye injury.
At Led Mask, we recommend choosing UVC devices with built-in safety switches—automatic shut-offs that stop emission as soon as the risk of direct exposure arises.
Next, verify the product’s legitimacy. Counterfeit UVC devices exist, yet without a home spectrometer to measure real-time wavelength, you cannot tell whether a unit truly emits germicidal UVC or another UV band.
UV irradiation of blood was hailed as a breakthrough for serious infections in the 1940s and 1950s. Ironically, this era also saw the arrival of penicillin, which quickly overshadowed the technique. Likewise, the Salk polio vaccine in 1955 displaced UV blood irradiation (UBI) for polio. Originally developed in the United States, UBI later drew more interest in Russia and Eastern Europe, where physical therapies were often emphasized over drugs.
During the past decade, multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pan-drug-resistant (PDR) bacteria have surged. These strains are linked to roughly double the mortality and longer hospital stays, and treatment options remain limited. A 2015 antimicrobial-resistance review warned that, without action, drug-resistant infections could claim an extra 10 million lives annually by 2050 and cost the global economy about $100 trillion—comparable to losing the UK’s output every year for 35 years.
This information is educational and not a substitute for professional medical advice.
