Brazilian scientists are testing a new dressing for severe burns. Made from tilapia skin, a highly prized fish, it helps heal wounds.
The non-standard test continues in Fortaleza, Brazil. The burns hospital in this port city has recruited 56 people to test a new dressing. Instead of the usual bandages, severe burns are covered … with fish skins. Tilapia, more specifically. Scientists are experimenting with the effects of the skin of this widely consumed species to treat burns.
A profitable technique
For the moment, the clinical trial is going quite well. In patients with superficial second-degree burns, doctors apply sterilized fish skin to the burns, and leave it in place until natural scarring. In the case of a deep second degree burn, the tilapia bandages should be changed several times during the weeks of treatment.
But if the classic bandages made of gauze and moisturizing ointment have to be changed every day at the cost of very great pain, the tilapia skin can stay in place longer. It also accelerates healing for several days and reduces the need for analgesics. A profitable approach: it reduces the costs of care by 75%.
Tilapia is widely consumed by Brazilians, but its skin is currently discarded. Researchers want to be able to exploit it. This will require convincing the Brazilian companies involved in the exploitation of this fish. Because researchers want to move on to the commercialization phase, but cannot do it alone.
A “buffer” effect
The effect of tilapia on wound healing is not a miracle. “When studying the skin of the fish, we were surprised to see the large amount of type 1 and 3 collagen it contained, far more than in human skin or other types of skin,” says Dr Edmar. Maciel, a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery, who is leading the clinical study. Collagen is a protein essential for healing.
The strips of fish skin adhere to the wound and create a kind of buffering effect, as reported in a published article in the magazine Stat (in English). “They prevent contamination and prevent drought as well as protein loss. Plus, they stick to the wound until it heals, ”explains Dr Maciel. Among the 52 individuals included in the trial, none presented any complications.
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