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Scientists have created a "patch" for the intestines
Vladimir Kuznetsov, Hi-News.ru
Cuts, tears, abrasions and other damage to the outer skin is quite easy to eliminate. If the damage is serious, stitches should be applied. In most cases, you can limit yourself to the usual patch. But this approach does not work with internal organs. Although sometimes there are minor injuries that do not require serious operations. It is for these purposes that a group of researchers from the United States has created a "patch" that can treat wounds in the intestine.
Why do we need a "patch" for the intestines?
First of all, of course, it will help with a disease called "duodenal ulcer". After all, the opened ulcer is regularly subjected to mechanical and physical effects and heals very poorly, and enveloping drugs do not work for very long. The same is the case with erosions and other damage to the intestinal walls. In addition, it is impossible to exclude the use of the material when healing seams after operations ("sealing" them from the inside) and so on.
What is a "patch" for the intestine
In fact, the word "patch" is taken in quotation marks for a reason. Similar here is not so much the principle of use (measured-cut-glued), but the essence of how the "patch" itself works (closing the wound for further healing). The invention itself is a mixture of probiotic hydrogels made from flour-adhesive nanofibers. Does it sound complicated? Everything is actually quite simple: hydrogels based on mucoadhesive nanofibers allow substances to "bond" with the intestinal surface. And the word "probiotic" means that substances contribute to the growth and development of "useful" microflora.
This is a completely new and unique new type of engineered living material, says one of the authors of the invention, Dr. Neil Joshi from Weiss University. Moreover, it does not require special storage conditions. There are enough conditions suitable for storing conventional medicines.
How to create a "patch for the intestine
According to scientists, to create the material, they use genetically modified non-pathogenic strains of E.coli bacteria to produce hydrogels. These hydrogels have a viscosity strongly resembling that of the mucus of the gastrointestinal tract (gastrointestinal tract). Moreover, the viscosity of mucus varies in different parts of the gastrointestinal tract, but bacteria can also be "programmed" in different ways so that the hydrogel acts exactly where it is needed.
To enable the formation of hydrogels, the researchers programmed a non-pathogenic strain of the intestinal bacterium E.coli to synthesize a variant of the CsgA curli protein. It is he who is responsible for the production of mucus.
A network of protein fibers that is continuously produced by genetically modified non-pathogenic E. coli bacteria and binds to mucus proteins on the surface of the intestinal wall. Figure from the press release of the Wyss Institute Trust your gut to be healed with probiotic hydrogels – VM.
Naturally produced biofilms are known to interfere with wound healing processes if they are not removed in time. We have essentially "hacked" one of the main mechanisms that allows the "patches" to perform their function of primary wound healing. After the work is completed, they "self-destruct" and do not interfere with the further regeneration process.
There was also a stage of laboratory tests. When introducing hydrogels to laboratory rodents through the mouth, it turned out that hydrogels are able to withstand the aggressive environment of the stomach and reach the "place of action", retaining up to 90% of the active substance. At the same time, it became known that if live bacteria are present in hydrogels, this prolongs the period of their action due to the production of new and new mucus. Thus, by regulating the number of bacteria, it is possible to control the duration of the "patch". The more bacteria there are, the higher it is. And vice versa.
Now scientists are aiming to conduct a series of tests on humans. According to the authors of the invention, their development will help in the treatment of a number of gastrointestinal pathologies. In particular, duodenal ulcer.
The article by Duraj‐Thatte et al. Genetically Programmable Self‐Regenerating Bacterial Hydrogels is published in the journal Advanced Materials – VM.
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