New mutidomain peptide (MDP) hydrogel may help in healing body wounds faster mainly the ulcers that are related to diabetes.
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The study appears this week in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering.
The multidomain peptide (MDP) hydrogel known by its amino acid sequence - K2(SL)6K2 - has in a recent study proven useful for the timed release of immunotherapy drugs. It has also been shown to encourage healing all by itself.
That quality may be useful for people with diabetes mellitus who often develop chronic wounds in their lower extremities that take longer to heal than normal wounds.
"This is particularly exciting because the study shows our material has an effect that's positive and better than things that are already out there," Hartgerink said. "This has been a long time coming."
He said the typical treatment for a diabetic foot ulcer has not changed much over the last century.
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The researchers reported that Rice's MDP hydrogel significantly accelerated the healing of wounds in genetically diabetic rodents. Treatment led to wound closure in 14 days, the formation of thick granulation tissue, including dense growth of blood vessels and nerve cells, and the regeneration of hair follicles.
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Hartgerink hopes to move the hydrogel toward clinical trials as a material rather than a drug to ease the federal approval process. "That would make it much more practical to do a clinical trial," he said. "These preclinical experiments have been exciting enough to warrant that thought process."
Source-Eurekalert