Vitamin D enhances healing of burns

Patients with severe burns who have higher levels of vitamin D recover more successfully than those with lower levels. Despite improvements in burn care many patients are still at risk of poor recovery. Complications can range from delayed wound healing through to infections. Patients with severe burns are at high risk of infection that may lead to life-threatening sepsis.

Vitamin D is known to have antibacterial actions that may combat infection and therefore aid in wound healing of burn patients. In order to investigate the role of vitamin D in recovery from burn injuries, researchers assessed the recovery progress, over one year, in patients with severe burns and correlated this with their vitamin D levels.

The study found that patients with higher levels of vitamin D had a better prognosis, with improved wound healing, fewer complications and less scarring. The data also showed that burns patients tend to have lower levels of vitamin D. These data suggest that vitamin D supplementation immediately following burn injury may have potent health benefits to the patient, including enhanced antimicrobial activity to prevent infection, and improved wound healing.

Major burn injury severely reduces vitamin D levels and adding this vitamin back may be a simple, safe and cost-effective way to improve outcomes for burns patients. The effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation to improve outcomes in burn patients would need to be verified in clinical trials.

Low vitamin D levels were associated with worse outcomes in burn patients including life threatening infections, mortality and delayed wound healing . It was also associated with worse scarring but vitamin D levels can improve the healing process.
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Carpolobia lutea plant may be effective for treating Alzheimer’s disease

Carpolobia lutea is a small shrub found in Central and West Africa. Scientific studies have shown that Carpolobia lutea plant has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.

The plant was effective in preventing the breakdown of acetylcholine when tested. At higher concentrations, its extract prevents acetylcholine breakdown than Ezerine drug, lowers free radicals and harmful molecules that damage brain cells.

Alzheimer’s patients experienced reduction in neurotransmitter acetylcholine leading to problems with memory and attention.

Carpolobia lutea plant could protect chemical messengers in the brain, reduces levels of free radicals and harmful molecules that destroy brain cells. It's extract could be used to produce new drugs for treating Alzheimer’s disease because of its anti-inflammatory properties.
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Komodo dragon blood may become an antibiotics

Harmful microbes are developing resistance to drugs that used to kill them, scientists are looking for powerful antibiotics that can destroy bacteria.

The bacterium Clostridium difficile is responsible for about 250,000 infections and 14,000 death, this makes it a threat to human.

Komodo dragon may be the new source of antibiotics because of its special qualities according to Van Hoek and colleagues.

Reptiles are strong animals, Komodo dragon can eat decayed food without any effect, peptide VK25 in its blood contains antimicrobial properties that can prevent biofilms.

The researchers rearrange two amino acids in its blood-VK25 to make it more effective and discovered new synthetic version of the peptide called DRGN-1

The team tested DRGN-1 on mice wounds that had Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stephlococcus aureus, the synthetic peptide destroyed the biofilm of the wounds and the two bacterial strains.

This positive result will make it effective in healing wounds and an effective antibiotics for human.