Washington: Treating second-degree burns with a nano-emulsion lotion sharply curbs bacterial growth that otherwise can jeopardise recovery.
Experiments show that it reduced bacterial growth a thousandfold compared to control animals receiving no treatment or a placebo.
The lotion also showed a similar reduction when compared to a topical anti-microbial agent commonly used in people with burns.
Plastic surgeons used the nano-emulsion to treat partial thickness (second degree) burns over 20 percent of the body.
The nano-emulsion shows promise in overcoming the limitations of current creams used in burns treatment, which aren`t able to penetrate skin to kill sub-surface bacteria, says Mark R. Hemmila, associate professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS), who led the study.
The nano-emulsion is made of soybean oil, alcohol, water and detergents emulsified into droplets less than 400 nanometres in diameter. It has proved effective at killing a variety of bacteria, fungi and viruses in previous research.
Before the burn treatment can be tested in people, further laboratory studies are needed to examine its effects on the overall healing process, says an UMMS release.
The patented nanoemulsion technology is licensed by U-M to NanoBio Corporation.
These findings were presented at the Interscience Conference for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
IANS