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New Silver Nanoparticle Skin Gel For Healing Burns |
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Written by Gary Presant, MD
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Sunday, 09 August 2009 |
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Scientists in India are reporting successful laboratory tests of a new
and potentially safer alternative to silver-based gels applied to the
skin of burn patients to treat infections.
With names like silver sulfadiazine and silver nitrate,
these germ-fighters save lives and speed healing.
The researchers
describe gel composed of silver nanoparticles — each 1/50,000th the
width of a human hair — that appears more effective than these
traditional gels.
Kishore Paknikar and colleagues note that antimicrobial silver
compounds have been used for decades on burn patients, whose damaged
skin is highly vulnerable to bacterial infections. However, topical
silver agents now in use can loose effectiveness in the body, cause
skin discoloration, and damage cells. Drug-resistant bacteria can make
these treatments less effective.
The scientists demonstrated that their gel killed a broad range of
harmful bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the most
common causes of burn infections, as well as several drug-resistant
microbes. The gel, which contains 30 times less silver than silver
sulfadiazine, did not have any apparent toxic effects when applied to
the healthy skin of test animals. "These results clearly indicate that
silver nanoparticles could provide a safer alternative to conventional
antimicrobial agents in the form of a topical antimicrobial
formulation," the article states.
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