Anti-burn foam
The frogs' foam filled with an antibiotic was suggested to be used to treat burns
Anastasia Kuznetsova-Fantoni, N+1
Foam has been used in medicine as a medicinal form since the 70s of the last century. With its help, glucocorticosteroids, antibacterial and antifungal drugs are applied to the affected areas. The advantage of this dosage form is that it allows you to cover a significant area of the skin surface and at the same time provide a large concentration of the drug. At the same time, the foam is often unstable and disappears quickly, so for long-term use it has to be applied several times a day. During periods when the wound remains uncoated, the risk of infection increases and the healing process slows down – especially for burn wounds.
British biologists led by Paul Hoskisson (Paul A. Hoskisson) from The University of Strathclyde used the unique properties of the foam produced by Tungar frogs (Engystomops pustulosus) to protect the eggs laid: it does not disintegrate for up to 10 days. Scientists analyzed its chemical properties, and also checked for toxicity to the skin. To do this, they treated keratinocytes on a tablet with proteins from the foam of Tungar frogs, and a day later they found no differences in the number of living cells between the treated tablets and tablets to which proteins from the foam of Tungar frogs were not added.
In a new paper published in the Royal Society Open Science (Brozio et al., Frog nest foams exhibit pharmaceutical foam-like properties).biologists continued their research and checked how the foam secretes medicine if loaded with the antibiotic rifampicin. For this purpose, a transwell system consisting of two cameras was used. The bottom of the inner chamber is a membrane that passes an antibiotic into the outer chamber. The researchers placed the foam in the inner chamber and measured the dynamics of rifampicin release from it by the amount of antibiotic passed through the membrane. In 48 hours, the foam released 50 percent of the antibiotic.
The release of rifampicin depends on time (the black line is the concentration of the antibiotic, the blue line is the percentage of the released antibiotic). Figure from the article by Brozio et al.
According to researchers, the foam of Tungar frogs can help in the treatment of burn wounds, which are harmed by frequent removal and application of bandages. Foam with an antibiotic can be applied to the burn, put a bandage on top and do not remove the bandage for several days so as not to disturb the damaged skin.
It is not the first time that biologists have found applications for substances produced by frogs in medicine. After studying the antimicrobial proteins of the Indian frog mucus, immunologists have discovered a protein that destroys drug-resistant strains of the influenza virus. Scientists plan to create an antiviral drug based on it.
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