In a lab test with mouse brain cells, a chemical called methylene blue makes the energy-producing parts of the cells work harder without using energy to make ATP, while another chemical called azure I doesn’t do anything. This suggests methylene blue might be messing with how the cells normally control their energy production.

A chemical called Azure I, which comes from methylene blue, doesn’t fix the energy power plants in mouse brain cells—even though it’s better at blocking certain brain enzymes. This means it might work in other ways, not by helping cells make energy.

Methylene blue helps brain cells use oxygen more efficiently to make energy after they’ve been starved.

A tiny amount of methylene blue helps heart cells make energy better, but too much actually hurts them — it’s a classic case of 'less is more'.

The more methylene blue you add, the more hydrogen peroxide the mitochondria make—up to 25 times more at the highest dose tested.

In lab tests on mouse brain cells, methylene blue makes more hydrogen peroxide than azure I, but azure I is more efficient—it creates more of this chemical per bit of oxygen it uses. So even though it makes less overall, it’s more wasteful with oxygen.