Camel milk dressings for hard-to-heal wounds? AGH University researchers test a novel solution

Treating hard-to-heal wounds constitutes a serious challenge for modern medicine. Such wounds are not only painful and troublesome for patients, but may also lead to severe complications, such as infections, amputations, and even death. Carried out by researchers from the AGH University of Krakow together with teams from the Jagiellonian University, University of Agriculture in Krakow, and University of British Columbia in Canada, the project is aimed at developing a novel hydrogel dressing containing natural constituents from sheep and camel milk. The dressing shall be antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, stimulate the regeneration of tissues, which will accelerate the healing process and reduce the risk of complications.

How is such a camel milk hydrogel dressing made?

First of all, the milk shall be lyophilised in -80 °C, which will keep the active substances from breaking down, maintaining their original form.

Lyophilised milk is going to be the carrier of bioactive substances in hydrogel dressings consisting of three layers, as depending on the position of the layer relative to the wound, the amount of the milk liophilisate is going to be different.

In the first research task, the researchers will develop hydrogel multilayer dressing material containing bioactive substances.

Of utmost importance will be to develop the best hydrogel matrix for the dressing. Moreover, we have to determine the minimum content of the so-called functional additives in the dressing, physicochemical properties of the material, how much longer we may use such a dressing in comparison to a regular one, and so on.

Then, the researchers will perform a number of screen tests to biologically evaluate the dressing functionalised with active substances from sheep and camel milk. Another stage of tests includes cellular analyses aimed to check whether the dressing has some effect on the cell viability and the wound’s confluency rate.

Interdisciplinary cooperation

The research team that has decided to undertake the ambitious task of developing innovative dressings comprises of experts on materials engineering, research on animal-based materials, physiology, and biomedical research. The role of the AGH University team is, above all, to develop the matrix for the hydrogel dressing and perform physicochemical tests. Material engineers will have to deal with the structure of the dressing itself, as well as with the optimisation of its composition, and finally with its production. Professor Anna Ptak from the Jagiellonian University together with Dr Edyta Molik and Dr Aneta Koronowicz from the University of Agriculture will study the milk’s bioactive substances and carry out in vitro cellular tests of the hydrogel dressing. Foreign consortium members, i.e. academics from the University in Canada, will perform specialised molecular research to determine the biological activity of the dressing. Subsequently, the team will apply for a patent for the novel dressing.