Americans' staple dinnertime fish can help heal our skin wounds

A new research has revealed that a protein found in tilapia, which has become a staple dinnertime fish for many Americans, can promote skin repair in rats without an immune reaction, suggesting possible future use for human patients.

Researchers at American Chemical Society explained that applying collagen, a major structural protein in animals, to wounds can help encourage skin to heal faster, but when the protein dressing comes from mammals such as cows and pigs, it has the potential to transmit conditions such as foot-and-mouth disease.

The researchers developed nanofibers from tilapia collagen and used them to cover skin wounds on rats.

The rats with the nanofiber dressing healed faster than those without it and in addition, lab tests on cells suggested that the fish collagen was not likely to cause an immune reaction.

The researchers concluded that it could be a good candidate to develop for clinical use.

The study is published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.