Jump to content
The Corroboree
  • entries
    326
  • comments
    8
  • views
    22,989

Bush medicine could make safer implants: research

Sign in to follow this  
Ed Dunkel

527 views

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/23/2473297.htm

'An extract from a flowering desert plant used as traditional medicine by Indigenous Australians could one day be used to coat hip transplants and other biomedical devices, researchers say.

Professor Hans Griesser and colleagues are presenting their work at a biomaterials conference at the University of New South Wales in Sydney this week.

"We can learn so much from nature and traditional knowledge," says Professor Griesser, a materials scientist from the University of South Australia.

He says Aboriginal people use leaves of eremophila plants, which grow in Australia's desert areas, to make ointments for skin abrasions and gargles for throat infections.

Professor Griesser and team extracted eleven compounds called "serrulatane diterpenes" from the leaves of eremophila and found they had the same bacterial killing power as established antibiotics.

The researchers then developed a method of permanently bonding the compounds to plastic and metal materials used to make implants such as catheters, heart valves, hip or knee implants.

Professor Griesser says antibacterial coatings on implants are important because those devices provide a perfect site for bacteria to become established.

He adds this could lead to serious infection or death of the implant recipient.

"If someone in their 70s has an artificial hip inserted and then they have an inflammation and have to go back to get the hip taken out and another put in, that's traumatic for someone who is already compromised health-wise," he said.

He says the problem with traditional antibiotics like penicillin is they do not work well when they are on the surface of a biomedical device.

In tests using staphyloccocus epidermis over 48 hours, the team found a very thin layer of the antibacterial coating stopped nearly all bacteria from attaching to the devices.' [...]

r332518_1501660.jpg

Aboriginal people use leaves of eremophila plants to make ointments for skin abrasions and gargles for throat infections. (Hans Griesser)

Sign in to follow this  


0 Comments


Recommended Comments

There are no comments to display.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×