New Therapy Fights Bacteria Without Antibiotics
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University have developed a novel technique using sugar-coated gold nanoparticles. When heated by near-infrared lasers, these nanoparticles can both show and destroy biofilms in infected teeth and skin wounds of rats and mice.
Biofilms are groups of tiny living things that cling to surfaces. These surfaces can be non-living, like rocks in a stream, or parts of animals, like skin or gut lining.
The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrated these dual-purpose nanoparticles’ diagnostic and therapeutic potential in eliminating entrenched bacteria and viruses.
“We have developed a highly innovative and clinically translatable infectious treatment technique,” Maryam Hajfathalian, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and is the study’s lead author, told The Epoch Times. It’s a “rapid, drug-free method for wound and skin infection imaging and treatments.”
This is a new way to clean teeth and wounds using tiny gold particles and light, she added. “This is the first time that we have used engineered gold nanoparticles to eradicate oral biofilms using photothermal therapy.”
Biofilms are structured communities of microbial cells embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances. Biofilms are associated with many health issues in humans, including chronic wound infections and tooth decay. Current antimicrobials are often incapable of disrupting the polymeric biofilm matrix and reaching the bacteria within. Alternative approaches are needed. Here, we described a complex structure of a dextran-coated gold-in-gold cage nanoparticle that enabled photoacoustic and photothermal properties for biofilm detection and treatment. Activation of these nanoparticles with a near infrared laser could selectively detect and kill biofilm bacteria with precise spatial control and in a short timeframe. We observed a strong biocidal effect against both Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus biofilms in mouse models of oral plaque and wound infections, respectively. These effects were over 100 times greater than those seen with chlorhexidine, a conventional antimicrobial agent. Moreover, this approach did not adversely affect surrounding tissues. We concluded that photothermal ablation using theranostic nanoparticles is a rapid, precise, and nontoxic method to detect and treat biofilm-associated infections.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10617778/
h/t Emeraldlight