AMS BioteQ Touts Antimicrobial Dressings for Chronic Wound Infections

We are no stranger to recovering from bit lips and scraped knees, but wound healing is a more daunting challenge for people living with diabetes. High levels of glucose in the blood hinder the immune response, putting diabetics at higher risk of complications such as wound infections and foot ulcers. 

AMS BioteQ, a company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2021, has developed MEDIACE^®, a wound dressing that contains the proprietary technology-derived antimicrobial component AirAce™. Not only is the material highly absorbent, it is also non-adhesive and possesses anti-inflammatory properties.

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Meng-Yi Bai Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering Structural testing and animal studies on the wound dressing shows it promotes wound repair in the early stages of treatment to reduce the risk of recurrent infections. 

Related Article: Taiwan’s AMS BioteQ Develops a New Antimicrobial Dressing Which Accelerates Diabetes Wound Healing

Highly Porous and Absorbent 

An ideal wound dressing controls the moisture around under a scanning electron microscope, structural differences between AMS MEDIACE^® (Fig 1. A, B) and other commercially available wound dressings (A) can be observed. 

MEDIACE^® dressings with varying concentrations of AirAce™ have increased porosity, uniform pore sizes and could achieve porosities of 95-96%.

Fig. 1 Comparison of Porosities (A. represents the control, while B.C represents MEDIACE^® dressings containing 200, 0.25 ppm AirAce™.)

The high porosity reflects the dressing’s absorbency, as indicated when MEDIACE^® was placed in phosphate-buffered saline and observed for changes in water absorption at different time points over 24 hours (Figure 2). Over the duration, the dressing was observed to continuously absorb water, with the gelatin turning increasingly transparent in the process. The gelatin comes with the added benefit of containing a variety of amino acid components for accelerated wound repair. 

Fig. 2 MEDIACE^® changes in absorbance from 0-24h

The high porosity and absorbency of AMS’ new-type dressing are akin to a sponge with highly dense pores, allowing it to absorb water effectively. The dressing also absorbs exudate while creating a slightly moist environment that could help prevent recurrent infections or inflammation. 

Promoting Adhesion-less and Dense Tissue Remodeling

Modern-day wound dressings must address adhesions are a common complication of wound healing that arises from the body’s natural recovery process. 

To assess the ability of the new-type wound dressing to deal with this issue, the researchers initiated two stages of animal testing on mice involving normal wounds and induced diabetic wounds. The goal of the studies was to compare the development of adhesions and the rate of wound healing between MEDIACE^® and other wound dressings. The dressings were changed every 2-3 days.

As seen from wound tissue sections taken from the mice (Fig. 3), MEDIACE^® (bottom 2 groups in Fig. 3) promoted uniform collagen arrangement resembling normal tissue at the wound bed. On the contrary, the collagen formed in the control group was porous and loose, making them prone to scarring. Collagen is an important component in wound healing that forms over a wound, so dense arrangement of collagen indicates a higher degree of wound healing.  

Fig. 3 Comparison of tissue formation at the wound bed (From top to bottom: control group, commercial dressings, MEDIACE^® with AirAce™ 200ppm, MEDIACE^® with AirAce™ 0.25 ppm)

MEDIACE^® Promotes Early Healing of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

The diabetic foot is a complication of diabetes where high blood glucose levels and reduced blood flow progressively damage the nerves and blood vessels in the feet, making wound healing difficult for diabetics.

In the trial assessing diabetic wounds, MEDIACE^® was shown to promote early wound healing. 

The researchers first induced mice to become diabetic, before applying the dressings to their wounds. The size of the wounds and state of healing were observed on different days. 

The results showed that MEDIACE^® dressings did not develop adhesions at the site of the wound. The same was not observed in the commercial control group, where severe and difficult-to-remove adhesions developed in the early stage of wound healing.

Fig. 4 compares the effect of different dressings on wound healing. Within the first 2 weeks of dressing application, MEDIACE^® dressings (green and blue folded lines) containing different concentrations of AirAce™ antibacterial ingredients led to reductions in wound size. In comparison, wound areas were enlarged in the commercial dressing control group (AQUACEL), which would increase the risk of adhesions and reinfections in diabetic patients. 

Fig. 4 Healing of diabetic wounds in mice with different dressings (The red line represents the commercial dressing control group; the green and blue lines represent the MEDIACE^® group with AirAce™ component)

Looking After the Needs of Those with Chronic Wounds 

The greatest distinguishing feature of MEDIACE^® is its ability to promote early wound healing, which is particularly important in diabetic wound care, expressed AMS R&D Director Yeh Ying-Ting.

The R&D team is working on improving the physical structure of the dressing to enhance its water absorption capacity and accelerate the wound healing process.

As medical needs regarding wound care continue to expand, in addition to diabetics, patients with cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and the elderly are at high risk for chronic wounds.

Besides treating diabetic wounds, AMS is also planning to target bedsores and cancer wounds, improve the development of dressings that can avoid bacterial infection, and reduce the burden of healthcare by accelerating healing and reducing the frequency of dressing changes for patients.

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Author

Joy Lin

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