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Prototype strengthens fight against bacterial infections and possibly COVID-19
UNLIKE VIRUSES, WHICH CAN BE CONTROLLED EFFECTIVELY using antiviral drugs and vaccines, bacteria are conventionally tackled with antibiotics. The Biolabels Unit, however, conducts research on the development of biogenic nanomaterials and nanotechnology for applications in the treatment of bacterial infections. The unit has obtained a R5,4-million research grant to develop a prototype of a consumer product to fight bacterial infections. The ability of microorganisms to become increasingly resistant to antimicrobial agents to which they were previously susceptible is such a serious global challenge that the World Health Organisation considers the prevalence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms a global health threat.
Professor Mervyn Meyer, the research unit’s director, says that until fairly recently, good hand hygiene practices and the use of sanitisers, disinfectants and antibacterial soaps were considered eff ective methods of preventing the spread of common bacterial skin infections.
“The antibacterial agent most often used in hand sanitisers is alcohol. It is recommended that the alcohol content be above 60%,” he says. Because alcohol has antimicrobial properties, this high alcohol content is also considered effective in killing the coronavirus on surfaces, including hands.
“However, due to the long-term use of hand sanitisers with alcohol content less than 60%, which do not eff ectively kill some bacteria, there are now fears that constant exposure to these low levels of alcohol has resulted in the development of resistant bacterial strains. Antimicrobial agents that we have been reliant on may not be eff ective anymore,” says Prof Meyer.
The increased use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers during the current pandemic may also increase the development of alcoholresistant bacterial strains, further exacerbating the problem. Due to these worrying trends, new antimicrobial agents for the control of infections are needed.
The Biolabels Research Unit team.
Professor Mervyn Meyer, Biolabels Research Unit Director.
The antibacterial agent in the product under development is one of several biogenic nanoparticles produced from a plant extract. Nanoparticles produced from plants may have several additional advantages over nanoparticles produced using traditional chemical synthesis methods. These nanomaterials are more biocompatible and environmentally friendly. Their production costs are lower because plant extracts are used and the energy requirements for synthesis are lower.
Researchers in South Africa also have the advantage of having access to plant species that are only found here, in a region whose rich biodiversity includes the entire Cape fl oral kingdom’s 9 300 plant species. Many of these plants already have a history of being used in traditional medicine.
The diverse phytochemistry of these plants has great potential for their exploitation in the development of new drugs.
Prof Meyer says they are confident that the Biolabels Unit “will have a functional prototype by the end of 2021”.
“We are currently refi ning the prototype and testing its eff ectiveness. The next phase will be to test the safety of the prototype,” he says.
So how does this product relate to fi ghting COVID-19? The unit is also investigating whether these biogenic nanoparticles have any antiviral properties and, should the nanoparticles be able to neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus, whether they can be used as a novel antiviral agent in sanitisers.
