Chinese scientists have developed a tissue adhesive natural from snail mucus to heal traumatic injuries and chronic wounds.
Land snails and their mucus were used more than 2,000 years ago to treat pain associated with burns, abscesses, and wounds.
inspired by this millennial therapy, researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, identified a natural biological adhesive from snail secretion. They evaluated its adhesive properties in vitro and its effects on wound healing in vivo, Xinhua reports.
Accelerates wound healing
Snail mucus gel adhesive consists of a bulk malleable adhesive matrix that can adhere to moist tissue through multiple interactions, according to a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications (1).
The hydrogel effectively accelerates full-thickness skin wound healing in both healthy and diabetic male rats.
Also, you can relieve inflammation in chronic wounds and significantly improve the regenerationaccording to the study.
According to the researchers, these findings may have important implications for the development of next-generation bioinspired tissue adhesives and for the bioengineering scaffold design.
References
- (1) A natural biological adhesive from snail mucus for wound repair. Nature Communications.