Natural and ion-exchanged illite clays reduce bacterial burden and inflammation in cutaneous meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in mice.

Natural and ion-exchanged illite clays reduce bacterial burden and inflammation in cutaneous meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in mice. J Med Microbiol. 2015 Oct 27; Authors: Otto CC, Kilbourne J, Haydel SE Abstract Discoveries associated with antibacterial activity of hydrated clays necessitate assessments of in vivo efficacy, practical use, and safety. Surface properties of clays can lead to variations in the composition and abundance of bound compounds or ions, thus affecting antibacterial activity. Since exchangeable metal ions released from the clay surface are responsible for in vitro antibacterial activity, we evaluated the in vivo antibacterial efficacy of four natural clays (one illite clay, two montmorillonite clays, and one kaolinite clay) and three ion-exchanged, antibacterial clays against superficial, cutaneous meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in mice. A superficial, cutaneous wound on the backs of SKH1-Elite mice was generated and subsequently infected with MRSA. Following twice daily applications of a hydrated clay poultice to infected wounds for seven days, we observed significant differences in the in vivo antibacterial efficacy between different types of clays. The natural and ion-exchanged illite clays performed best as measured by bacterial load, inflammatory response, and gross wound morphology with significant decreases in bacterial viability and dermatitis. Topic...
Source: Journal of Medical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: J Med Microbiol Source Type: research