Chemicals produced by marine algae could make surgery much safer for many patients by reducing the buildup of dangerous bacteria on artificial hips and other implanted devices.
The chemicals - furanones - do not kill bacteria, but may help to prevent life-threatening infections in patients and reduce the need for additional surgery, say scientists.
"Part of the problem is that bacteria that usually live harmlessly on the skin attach themselves to implants, forming thick colonies called biofilms that are impervious to the patient's immune system and antibiotics alike," said New Scientist magazine.
Jasjit Baveja, of the Co-operative Research Centre for Eye Research and Technology in Sydney, discovered in a laboratory study that furanones cut by 90 per cent the numbers of a bacterium called staphylococcus epidermidis coating plastic plates.
The researchers found similar results when they tested the chemical on catheters in sheep.
"The furanones appear to stop the bugs forming a biofilm, perhaps by preventing them from turning on the genes that allow them to stick on to a surface and to each other," the magazine said.
- REUTERS
nzherald.co.nz/health
Chemicals from marine algae foil bacteria
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.