Cinnamon and Peppermint Help to Heal Chronic Wounds
A new compound made up of antimicrobial agents from peppermint and cinnamon effectively eliminates bacterial biofilms—infectious colonies of bacteria that develop in chronic wounds—and promotes wound healing, according to recent research.
While eliminating biofilms is possible through removal of infected tissue, the process is costly and invasive. Recent research has indicated that certain essential oils and natural compounds may effectively treat these bacterial clumps without the need for surgery.
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In order to further explore the antibacterial potential of natural compounds, researchers constructed microcapsules containing peppermint oil and cinnamaldehyde, the part of cinnamon that gives it its flavor and smell.
The treatment proved effective against 4 strains of bacteria, including 1 that was antibiotic-resistant.
“An in situ reaction at the oil/water interface between the nanoparticles and cinnamaldehyde structurally augments the capsules to efficiently deliver the essential oil payloads, effectively eradicating biofilms of clinically isolated pathogenic bacteria strains,” they wrote.
“In contrast to their antimicrobial action, the capsules selectively promoted fibroblast proliferation in a mixed bacteria/mammalian cell system making them promising for wound healing applications.”
The full study was published in ACS NANO.
—Michael Potts
Reference:
1. Duncan B, Li X, Landis RF, et al. Nanoparticle-stabilized capsules for the treatment of bacterial biofilms. ACS Nano. 2015 July [epub ahead of print]. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5b01696.