Proflavine
Encyclopedia
Proflavine also called proflavin and diaminoacridine, is an acriflavine
Acriflavine
Acriflavine is a topical antiseptic. It has the form of an orange or brown powder. It may be harmful in the eyes or if inhaled. It is a dye and it stains the skin and may irritate. Commercial preparations are often mixtures with proflavine...

 derivative, a disinfectant bacteriostatic against many gram-positive
Gram-positive
Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining. This is in contrast to Gram-negative bacteria, which cannot retain the crystal violet stain, instead taking up the counterstain and appearing red or pink...

 bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

. It has been used in the form of the dihydrochloride and hemisulfate salts as a topical
Topical
In medicine, a topical medication is applied to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes such as the vagina, anus, throat, eyes and ears.Many topical medications are epicutaneous, meaning that they are applied directly to the skin...

 antiseptic
Antiseptic
Antiseptics are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction...

, and was formerly used as a urinary antiseptic.

Proflavine is also known to have a mutagenic
Mutagenesis
Mutagenesis is a process by which the genetic information of an organism is changed in a stable manner, resulting in a mutation. It may occur spontaneously in nature, or as a result of exposure to mutagens. It can also be achieved experimentally using laboratory procedures...

 effect on DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 by intercalating
Intercalation (chemistry)
In chemistry, intercalation is the reversible inclusion of a molecule between two other molecules . Examples include DNA intercalation and graphite intercalation compounds.- DNA intercalation :...

 between nucleic acid
Nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are biological molecules essential for life, and include DNA and RNA . Together with proteins, nucleic acids make up the most important macromolecules; each is found in abundance in all living things, where they function in encoding, transmitting and expressing genetic information...

 base pair
Base pair
In molecular biology and genetics, the linking between two nitrogenous bases on opposite complementary DNA or certain types of RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds is called a base pair...

s. It differs from most other mutagenic
Mutagenesis
Mutagenesis is a process by which the genetic information of an organism is changed in a stable manner, resulting in a mutation. It may occur spontaneously in nature, or as a result of exposure to mutagens. It can also be achieved experimentally using laboratory procedures...

components by causing basepair-deletions or basepair-insertions and not substitutions.

Proflavine absorbs strongly in the blue region at 445 nm (in water at pH 7) with molar extinction coefficient of c. 40,000
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