Malachite green, an N-methylated diaminotriphenylmethane dye, is used primarily as a therapeutic agent in aquaculture. It controls fungal attacks, protozoan infections and some other diseases caused by helminths on a wide variety of fish and other aquatic organisms. In solution, the dye exists as a mixture of the cation (chromatic malachite green) and its carbinol base, with the ratio depending on the pH of the solution; the dye also can undergo chemical and metabolic reduction to a leuco derivative. Malachite green intercalates with DNA, with a preference for A:T-rich regions, and the leuco derivative bears a structural resemblance to carcinogenic aromatic amines that can form covalent DNA adducts. In mammalian cells, it shows marked cytotoxicity and the ability to induce cell transformation and lipid peroxidation. The toxicity of this dye increases with exposure time, temperature and concentration. It has been reported to cause carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, chromosomal fractures, teratogenecity and respiratory toxicity.

D&C Yellow No. 6 is an excipient (pharmacologically inactive substance). D&C Yellow No. 6 is a color additive. It has been approved for use in food, drugs, and cosmetics. D&C Yellow No. 6 is chemically manufactured by diazotizing 4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid using hydrochloric acid and sodium nitrite or sulfuric acid and sodium nitrite. The diazo compound is coupled with 6-hydroxy-2-naphthalene-sulfonic acid. The dye is isolated as the sodium salt and dried. The trisodium salt of 3-hydroxy-4-[(4-sulfophenyl)azo]-2,7-naphthalenedisulfonic acid which may be blended with the principal color is prepared in the same manner except the diazo benzenesulfonic acid is coupled with 3-hydroxy-2,7-naphthalenedisulfonic acid.

D&C RED NO. 40 is an inactive component (color additive) of RYCLORA®, an antihistamine agent with anticholinergic (drying) and sedative side effects, which is effective for the symptomatic relief of perennial and seasonal allergic rhinitis, vasomotor rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis due to inhalant allergens and foods, mild and uncomplicated allergic skin manifestations of urticaria and angioedema, dermographism, amelioration of allergic reactions to blood or plasma.

Brilliant green is a synthetic dye. Brilliant green inhibits the growth of gram-positive bacterias and thus has antibacterial properties. It is broadly used as a topical antiseptic (in form of cutaneous solution), especially in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Erythrosine B (also known as Red No. 3), a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved red food dye, is found in cosmetics and food. It is also used as a plasma stain for nerve cells and staining bacteria in soil. It was studied the modulating capabilities of erythrosine B on amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) aggregation and Aβ-associated impaired neuronal cell function. It is known, that aggregation Aβ is closely linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease pathology.

D&C RED NO. 33, a red dye, is used as a colorant in cosmetic product. It’s also an inactive ingredient of JOHNSONS BATH DISCOVERY BABY GIFT SET, which is used to prevent diaper rash.

Sulfobromophthalein (BSP) is a dye with a high affinity for organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) and has been used as a substrate for multidrug resistance associated protein 2 (Mrp2). BSP is transported into hepatocytes by OATPs and, after conjugation to glutathione, is excreted into bile by Mrp2.3 It was found to inhibit the aldo-keto reductase ARK1C20. Sulfobromophthalein (BSP) is used in diagnosis of hepatic disorders.It is also used for the quantitative determination of proteins.

Nitroblue Tetrazolium (NBT) is a chromogenic substrate that, like other tetrazolium compounds, can be reduced to produce a colored formazan derivative. Conventionally, a semi-quantitative microscopic NBT assay is used to determine the production of superoxide anion (O2(-)) in various phagocytic cells. This microscopic assay is conducted by counting the cells containing blue NBT formazan deposits, which are formed by reduction of the membrane permeable, water-soluble, yellow-colored, nitroblue tetrazolium (Y-NBT) by O2(-). NBT test, the oldest and most recognized diagnostic test for chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), relies on light microscopy to provide a mostly qualitative determination of phagocyte NADPH oxidase activity: production of blue reduced NBT formazan in normal cells but not in those from patients with CGD. NBT can also be used as a chromogenic activity stain for oxidoreductases in gels or solutions. More commonly NBT is often paired with 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-inolyl phosphate (PCIB) for the colorimetric detection of alkaline phosphatase activity. Alkaline phosphate converts PCIB to a product that reduces NBT to its formazan derivative, resulting in a black-purple precipitate.

Acriflavine (ACF) is a topical antiseptic. The hydrochloride form is more irritating than the neutral form. It is derived from acridine. Commercial preparations are often mixtures with proflavine. Acriflavine was developed in 1912 by Paul Ehrlich, a German medical researcher, and was used during the First World War against sleeping sickness. ACF has known trypanocidal, antibacterial, and antiviral activities. Effects of ACF on cancer cells were first reported 50 years ago. By present time was demonstrated that ACF a drug, that binds directly to HIF-1 alpha and HIF-2 alpha and inhibits HIF-1 dimerization and transcriptional activity and thus has potent inhibitory effects on tumor growth and vascularization. Also Acriflavine in combination with 3,6-diaminoacridine (proflavine) could prove to be a potential antimalarial drug and its pharmacological action can be due to inhibition of gyrase activity. This is achieved through interaction of the ACF with the DNA substrate. This interaction may lead to conformation change in DNA unsuitable for binding of gyrase with DNA.