Study finds way to make medical equipment infection-free
Researchers used nanoparticles to identify the presence of deadly microbes present on medical devices, like catheters and make them infection-free.This study was conducted as an interdisciplinary collaboration between microbiologists, immunologists and engineers led by a Dr.
Candida albicans, a commonly found microbe, can turn deadly when it colonises on devices such as catheters implanted in the human body.
While commonly found in healthy people, this microbe can become a serious problem for those who are seriously ill or immune-suppressed.
The microbe forms a biofilm when it colonises using for e.g., a catheter as a source of infection. It then spreads into the bloodstream to infect internal organs.
The mortality rate in some patients populations can be as high as 30-40 % even if you treat people. When it colonises, its highly resistant to anti-fungal treatments, he said.
The idea is that if you can diagnose this infection early, then you can have a much bigger chance of treating it successfully with current anti-fungal drugs and stopping a full-blown systemic infection, but our current diagnostic methods are backing. A biosensor to detect early stages of colonisation would be highly beneficial, added the Prof.
The researchers investigated the effects of organosilica nanoparticles of different sizes, concentrations and surface coatings to see whether and how they interacted with both C. Albicans and with immune cells in the blood.
They found that the nanoparticles bound to fungal cells, but were non-toxic to them.
They don't kill the microbe, but we can make an anti-fungal particle by binding them to a known anti-fungal drug, the Prof. said.
The researchers also demonstrated that the particles associated with neutrophils-human white blood cells in a similar way as they did with C. Albicans, remaining noncytotoxic towards them.
We've identified that these nanoparticles and by inference a number of different types of nanoparticles can be made to be interactive with cells of interest, the Dr. said.
We can actually change the surface properties by attaching different things, thereby we can really change the interactions they have with these cells- that's quite significant, added the Dr.
The Dr. said while nanoparticles were being investigated in the treatment of cancer, the use of nano-particle-based technologies in infectious diseases lags behind the cancer nano-medicine field, despite the great potential for new treatments and diagnostics.
Candida albicans, a commonly found microbe, can turn deadly when it colonises on devices such as catheters implanted in the human body.
While commonly found in healthy people, this microbe can become a serious problem for those who are seriously ill or immune-suppressed.
The microbe forms a biofilm when it colonises using for e.g., a catheter as a source of infection. It then spreads into the bloodstream to infect internal organs.
The mortality rate in some patients populations can be as high as 30-40 % even if you treat people. When it colonises, its highly resistant to anti-fungal treatments, he said.
The idea is that if you can diagnose this infection early, then you can have a much bigger chance of treating it successfully with current anti-fungal drugs and stopping a full-blown systemic infection, but our current diagnostic methods are backing. A biosensor to detect early stages of colonisation would be highly beneficial, added the Prof.
The researchers investigated the effects of organosilica nanoparticles of different sizes, concentrations and surface coatings to see whether and how they interacted with both C. Albicans and with immune cells in the blood.
They found that the nanoparticles bound to fungal cells, but were non-toxic to them.
They don't kill the microbe, but we can make an anti-fungal particle by binding them to a known anti-fungal drug, the Prof. said.
The researchers also demonstrated that the particles associated with neutrophils-human white blood cells in a similar way as they did with C. Albicans, remaining noncytotoxic towards them.
We've identified that these nanoparticles and by inference a number of different types of nanoparticles can be made to be interactive with cells of interest, the Dr. said.
We can actually change the surface properties by attaching different things, thereby we can really change the interactions they have with these cells- that's quite significant, added the Dr.
The Dr. said while nanoparticles were being investigated in the treatment of cancer, the use of nano-particle-based technologies in infectious diseases lags behind the cancer nano-medicine field, despite the great potential for new treatments and diagnostics.