Bandages infused with casein, a protein found naturally in milk, make wounds heal faster, a recent study in mice showed.
Casein is found in the milk of all mammals, but is most abundant in cow’s milk, where it is found in up to 80%. Over the past decade, there has been increased interest in casein’s antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as its utility as a protein-rich dietary supplement. But it was also not known to help wounds heal faster.
Now, researchers have found that casein-infused dressings significantly improved wound healing in rats compared to control groups.
The study carried out in this regard by researchers from University College London (UCL) is the first to test the healing benefits of casein in an animal model.
The research results suggest that this inexpensive and naturally abundant substance with antimicrobial properties has the potential to replace expensive materials such as silver in wound dressings. Science Daily.
In the study, UCL researchers mixed pure casein with polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable polyester commonly used as a bandage material.
Rats with small identical skin wounds were divided into three groups. The wounds of the first group were treated with casein-infused bandages, those of the second group with normal PCL bandages, and the rodents of the third group were left without bandages.
The progress of healing was checked after three, seven, 10 and 14 days by photographing and measuring the wounds, as well as examining them under a microscope.
The scientists found that after 14 days, wounds treated with casein-infused bandages healed to only 5.2% of their original size, compared to 31.1% in the bandage group normal and 45.6%, in the untreated group.
“Natural materials contain some wonderful properties, many of which are unknown,” said Dr. Jubair Ahmed of the said university, one of the authors of the study.
Since casein is a by-product of milk, if approved for human treatment, it would be a relatively inexpensive material that could be produced on a large scale.
2023-08-01 15:03:00
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