Upsalite shown to inhibit bacteria on the skin
Researchers find that the mesoporous magnesium carbonate Upsalite exerts strong bacteriostatic effect on Staphylococcus epidermidis
The mesoporous material Upsalite has been shown to inhibit growth of bacteria associated with acne and hospital acquired infections.
Upsalite is a mesoporous magnesium carbonate discovered in 2013 by researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden. The material has previously been shown to be skin-friendly, and to be a promising excipient for formulation of poorly soluble drugs.
In a newly published article in the journal ACS Omega1, researchers at Uppsala University have now shown that the mesoporous magnesium carbonate Upsalite exerts strong bacteriostatic effect on Staphylococcus epidermidis. This open up new possibilities for Upsalite, especially in certain dermal applications where an inhibition of bacterial growth is desirable.
S. epidermidis an opportunistic bacterium that causes hospital acquired infections (HAIs), and can readily become resistant to antibiotics. It is also associated with acne as well as infections of intravascular devices and complications in patients with implanted prosthetic material. The results of the research open up the way for development of materials inhibiting bacterial growth without the use of antibiotics, for example for dermal applications.
In recent years, researchers have shown increased attention to porous materials, especially mesoporous materials where the pores are between 2 and 50 nanometres in diameter. Today, such materials are developed for applications including delivery of medicines, moisture adsorption and wastewater cleaning. For many of these applications it is of importance to know how the materials affect biological entities such as different cells and bacteria.
'These newly found bacteriostatic properties combined with the ability to load and release molecules from the pores in the material are highly interesting for many applications,' says Maria Strømme, Professor at Department of Engineering Sciences, Nano Technology and Functional Materials one of the authors behind the study.
Reference
1. Ken Welch et al, Investigation of the Antibacterial Effect of Mesoporous Magnesium Carbonate, ACS Omega 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.6b00124