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A combination of probiotics and antibiotics could eradicate two strains of drug-resistant bacteria that often infect wounds.
According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers, if the probiotic / antibiotic combination proved to be effective in future tests in animals and humans, it could be incorporated into wound dressings where it could help heal chronic wounds infected. The study was published in Advanced Materials.
"There are so many bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, which is a serious problem for human health, and we think one of the ways to treat them is to encapsulate a live probiotic and let it do its job," he says. said Ana Jaklenec.
The human body contains billions of bacterial cells, many of which are beneficial. In some cases, these bacteria help prevent infection by secreting antimicrobial peptides and other compounds that kill pathogenic strains of bacteria. Others outperform harmful strains by absorbing nutrients and other essential resources.
Scientists have already tested the idea of applying probiotics to chronic wounds and they have had some success in studies on burn patients, said lead author Zhihao Li. However, probiotic strains usually can not fight all bacteria in an infected wound. Combining these strains with traditional antibiotics would help kill more pathogenic bacteria, but the antibiotic could also kill probiotic bacteria.
The MIT team has devised a way to solve this problem by encapsulating probiotic bacteria so that they are not affected by the antibiotic. In addition, researchers have also discovered that alginate is a component of biofilms that form clusters of bacteria to protect themselves from antibiotics.
The researchers believe that this approach could be used to develop new types of bandages or other wound dressings containing antibiotics and probiotics encapsulated in alginate.
(This story has not been changed by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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