It’s always good if you can avoid using antibiotics so that harmful bacteria don’t develop resistance to them. Because it kills bacteria, you don’t need antibiotics, so it may help.
Previous studies have explored the use of such peptides to eradicate bacteria for medical applications, but the main obstacle is that the peptides degrade quickly upon contact with blood and other bodily fluids. It was true.
Building on the success of previous projects, scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed a workaround for this problem.
In the spray they created, which is intended to be applied directly to open wounds, peptide molecules are attached to specially structured hydrogel microparticles. The gel protects the peptides from the blood and at the same time makes it possible to destroy the bacteria by compromising the protective outer membrane of the microorganism.
As a bonus, it’s a spray do It is believed that killing bacteria in this particular way prevents them from developing resistance to it.
Laboratory tests have shown that the spray kills 99.99% of the bacteria it comes in contact with, including antibiotic-resistant types such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant bacteria). Staphylococcus aureus). Moreover, the effect lasts for about 48 hours.
Scientists are also considering using sprays to coat medical implants to prevent infections from developing when the device is first placed in the body. We have already tested with the silicones used.
“The materials in this wound spray are completely non-toxic and do not affect human cells,” said doctoral student Edvin Blomstrand, one of the lead authors on the study. . “Unlike existing antiseptic sprays, it does not interfere with the body’s healing process. Even spraying the material on a wound can kill bacteria in a short period of time.”
The paper was recently published in the journal ASC Applied Biomaterials.
Source: Chalmers Institute of Technology
