PRAWN shells may hold the key to avoiding chronic back pain
after surgery, with promising Adelaide research set for human clinical trials next year.
Researchers initially were using old squid pens for a material called chitin but prawn shells are easier and cheaper to source. The key substance chitin is a commonly found in insect exoskeletons, fly wings and crustacean shells.
Professor of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Adelaide Professor Peter-John Wormald saw potential of chitin for use in ear, nose and throat surgery.
In a collaborative effort between the University of Adelaide, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and researchers in New Zealand, Prof Wormald developed “Chitodex (CD)”, a surgical gel using a polymer derived from squid — which contains anti-bleeding and anti-scarring properties.
Prawn shells may hold the key to avoiding chronic back pain after surgery — with promising Adelaide research set for human clinical trials next yearSource:News Limited
He could see the gel being used after back surgery to prevent scarring and adhesions, noting as many as 40 per cent of the 20,000 back surgeries in Australia each year can develop adhesions, in some cases leading to chronic back pain.
Despite some trialling success with animals it wasn’t until the gel was added with the compound Deferiprone, which also contains anti-scarring properties, that it had remarkable results.
Subsequent animal trials were far more successful and human clinical trials are expected by early next year.
It’s hoped more animal trials will assess the optimum levels of the mix and work out how to have it disperse steadily over the course of a week as the surgery wounds heal.
“Having had success with the gel in nasal cavities and sinuses, we identified problems with back surgery and a high failure rate with scar tissue and it seemed a logical extension to trial the gel to see if it is going to be effective,” Prof Wormald said.
“We did some animal trials a year or so ago which showed the gel did work. It went quite well in inhibiting scarring but it didn’t have the wow factor — it didn’t blow us away.”
He said the breakthrough came after Associate Professor Sarah Vreugde had the idea to put the compound in the gel.
“We did some preliminary studies last year and it had a much stronger effect — we got the wow factor.”
The work will proceed thanks to a $200,000 development grant from the Hospital Research Foundation, from fundraising including the annual Hospital Research Home Lottery.
The grants support researchers to undertake health and medical research at the proof-of-concept stage, that specifically drives towards a commercial outcome within a foreseeable time frame.
If it succeeds in improving quality of life for back surgery patients, the patented “Def-CD-gel” will have a lucrative global market, thanks in part to prawn shells and smart researchers
No comments:
Post a Comment