New Treatment for Multidrug-resistant Bacterial Wound Infections

A new kind of antibiotic-free protection for wounds that kills drug-resistant bacteria and induces the body’s immune responses to fight infections is developed by Sweden scientists.

The new treatment is based on specially-developed hydrogels consisting of polymers known as dendritic macromolecules is reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

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‘Dendritic hydrogel fights drug-resistant bacteria and induces the body’s natural immune defense.’

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The hydrogels are formed spontaneously when sprayed on wounds as dressing material and are degradable and non-toxic.

Despite containing no antibiotics, hydrogels show excellent antibacterial qualities and were effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria. The material also reduces inflammation.

The antibacterial effect of the hydrogel depends on their structure where well-ordered branches terminate with a profusion of cationic, charged points that connect well with the bacterial cells.

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The hydrogels were tested against several clinically relevant infectious bacteria and showed effectiveness in killing those bacteria.

Cell infection tests also demonstrated that gel not only efficiently killed clinical drug-resistant bacteria from wounds but also induced the expression of naturally-existing antimicrobial peptides or endogenous antibiotics in human skin cells.

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Contrary to traditional antibiotics, where bacteria may develop resistance quickly, resistance towards antimicrobial peptides is rarely seen.

Targeting skin infections with the dendritic-based platform for more than a year shows that the synthesis for the hydrogels is less complicated and easily scalable.

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This hydrogel is considered to be an outstanding contribution to the fight against multidrug-resistant bacteria especially when running out of available antibiotics.

Source-Medindia