Polyhexamethylene biguanide exposure leads to viral aggregation

This study reports the activity of two biguanides against MS2 bacteriophage used as a surrogate virus for nonenveloped mammalian viruses and provides an explanation as to their apparent limited efficacy. When tested in a standard suspension test, two polyhexamethylene biguanides (PHMB), VANTOCIL[trade mark sign] TG and COSMOCIL[trade mark sign] CQ, reduced the viability of MS2 by only 1-2 log₁₀ PFU ml⁻¹. Exposure time up to 30 min did not affect the activity of the biguanides, although both PHMB were shown to strongly interact with MS2 proteins. Inactivation kinetics and change in virus hydrophobicity suggested that PHMB induces the formation of viral aggregates. This hypothesis was supported using dynamic light scattering that showed an increase in viral aggregates sizes (up to 500 nm) in a concentration-dependent manner. It has been reported that viral aggregation is responsible for virus survival to the biocide exposure. Here, this might be the case, because the virucidal activity of the biguanides was modest and viral aggregation important. The formation of viral aggregates during virus exposure to PHMB was unlikely to overestimate the virucidal potential of the biguanides.