ICF: Novel Antimicrobial Peptides for Local Wound Sepsis Control

伤口是细菌的滋生地，因此感染是患者发病的主要原因，导致延迟愈合、皮肤移植物损失和败血症。伤口愈合延迟会导致患者严重的功能和心理疾病，肢体丧失（糖尿病）甚至生命丧失（烧伤）。伤口敷料代表了伤口护理和管理的重要方法，但几乎没有证据支持将当前抗菌敷料常规用于复杂伤口。大多数抗菌敷料未显示出明显的伤口愈合益处。这可能是由于局限性，如局部细胞毒性，缺乏抗微生物活性和可变的抗菌功效。应避免在伤口护理中重复或长期使用常规抗生素，因为出现了对这些常用抗菌剂具有耐药性的病原体。我们正在开发新型专利抗菌肽（AMP）释放水纤维敷料，具有广谱抗菌活性，可阻止伤口感染并促进伤口愈合。我们的AMP是通过合理设计开发的，从数十种候选产品中选出，并针对一系列微生物进行了测试。该敷料对伤口分离的病原体具有广谱活性，对耐药微生物具有高效力，具有快速动态杀灭能力，并通过耐药生物膜具有高渗透率。我们的AMP易于合成，高度稳定且无毒。我们的原型伤口敷料旨在识别临床医生和患者的医疗保健需求，包括易于应用和去除，渗出液管理和负担能力。该技术将代表对当前伤口护理的有价值的补充。

Wounds are breeding grounds for bacteria and hence infection is the major contributor to morbidity in patients, causing delayed healing, loss of skin grafts and sepsis. Delayed wound healing causes significant functional and psychological morbidity for patients, loss of limbs (in diabetes) or even loss of life (in burns). Wound dressings represent an important approach for wound care and management, but there is little evidence to support the routine use of the current antimicrobial dressings for complex wounds. Most antimicrobial dressings do not show clear wound healing benefits. This could be due to limitations such as local cytotoxicity, lack of penetrance and variable antimicrobial efficacy. Conventional antibiotics should be avoided for repeated or prolonged uses in wound care, because of the emergence of pathogens resistant to these commonly used antimicrobials. This highlights the urgent need for novel approaches.We are developing novel patented antimicrobial peptide (AMP) releasing hydrofibre dressings with a broad-spectrum activity against bacteria, to stem wound infection and improve wound healing. Our AMP has been developed through rational design, selected from many dozens of candidates, and tested against a range of microbes. The dressing will have a broad-spectrum of activity against wound isolated pathogens, feature high potency against resistant microbes, have fast dynamic kill, and high penetrance through resistant biofilms. Our AMP is easy to synthesize, highly stable and non-toxic. Our prototype wound dressing is designed to recognise the healthcare needs from clinicians and patients, including ease of application and removal, exudate management and affordability. The technology would represent a valuable addition to current wound care.