Authors:
Bernd Liesenfeld, Gregory Schultz, John Azeke, Olajompo Moloye, William Toreki, Roy Carr, David Moore, and Gerald Olderman
Summary:
Chronic wounds represent a major burden for both caregivers and the health care system in general. Estimates for the US alone place the cost of treatment for chronic wounds at over $1 billion annually, and at $40-70,000 individually. Increases are projected due to the aging of the population, and increased incidence of diabetes. Bacterial colonization and biochemical imbalances in chronic wounds prevent proper healing. Elevated levels of proteases degrade tissue (extracellular matrix) as fast or faster than the healing process can form it. High protease
levels are at least partly due to bacterial colonization that promotes inflammatory response. Antimicrobial dressings hav demonstrated improved healing on chronic wounds: First, antimicrobials reduce bacterial burden (reducing inflammation), and second, the bacteria in the wound are often a source of proteases themselves, so their removal benefits the rate of healing directly. Experimental results shown here demonstrate the capacity of a NIMBUS® (Novel Intrinsically MicroBicidal Utility Substrate) wound dressing to provide antimicrobial efficacy as well as to control activity of proteases (focusing specifically on bacterially derived proteases). The novelty of NIMBUS technology is that these properties are provided through the permanent attachment of antimicrobial polymeric quaternary species that do not leach out of the dressing
and into the wound bed, as was recently featured in TIME magazine (Vol. 167, issue #12, 2006, p57), in an article that profiled Quick-Med scientist Greg Schultz as part of a series on technology innovators pioneering societally relevant scientific advances.
Source:
2008 Wound Healing Society Meeting, #81, San Diego, CA (04/24-27/2008)