In some remote Aboriginal communities, skin infections like impetigo are so common they are seen as ‘normal’, yet they can lead to fatal conditions like heart disease and kidney failure. A new research project is using the antimicrobial power of Jervis Bay seaweed’s magic molecule to create a prevention-focused, non-antibiotic solution.
This project using the SXRG84 molecule found in Jervis Bay seaweed, is being led by Dr. Esther Callcott, alongside clinical trials for cancer-related mucositis (painful inflammation of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract).
On the spectrum between food-grade and medical-grade applications of the SXRG84 molecule sit some projects that have the potential to dramatically improve health outcomes of people suffering from potentially serious, even fatal health conditions.
Two such examples were presented at the one-day Project NICE (National Integrated Care of Epithelia) conference in held here in Jervis Bay in February. The project researchers were able to ask the assembled experts for input, which has significantly advanced their plans as a result.
Indigenous Skin Health: From Cure to Prevention
Impetigo is a skin infection that is so prevalent in some Aboriginal communities that the general perception is that such a condition is normal and so people don’t bother to seek treatment.
But the long-term effects of chronic skin infection—caused by Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes, after some sort of trauma to the skin barrier, such as an insect bite or a scratch—can mean more serious conditions and even death.
Dr. Esther Callcott from Charles Sturt University explained: “In communities impetigo can be found in anywhere between 45 to 70 percent of the population. If left untreated it can lead to severe complications, like acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease, other skin infections that can lead to cellulitis, abscesses or even sepsis which is entire blood poisoning. It can also lead to severe bone infections like osteomyelitis and also kidney disease. So it is a significant issue in First Nations communities.”
Esther wants to go beyond treatment with her project focused on First Nations skin integrity and infectious disease and put the focus on prevention through an ethically designed research program, which fits with her university’s commitment to addressing the First Nations health gap, “working with mob to ensure that what we design is going to suit them and going to benefit them in the long term”.
She explained to the assembled room of experts at Project NICE her aim “to culturally align a prevention-focused model, emphasising the resilience of protection and long-term skin health. Prevention is always better than cure. The goal is a non-antibiotic strategy, finding a fraction of the SXRG84 molecule that has an antimicrobial effect, as part of the United Nations sustainable goals to towards better antimicrobial stewardship.
“The program has to be designed to reduce recurrent infections, support skin integrity and not just treat the lesions.”
The project has received a boost from the Project NICE event. Esther has made a close connection to Rosanna Angus from a remote Kimberley community in Western Australia (and a member of the core development team for the Lanje skin care brand), with whom she will co-design the program and ensure they develop community ready prototypes and workshops to build local research capacity.
Esther has also garnered the attention of the Marine Bioproducts Cooperative Research Centre, with CEO Daniel Abrahams voicing strong encouragement for the project to seek support from the organisation.
Cancer Patients’ Mucositis Clinical Trial Project Underway
For many people receiving cancer treatment for head and neck cancers, one of the most debilitating side effects of the radiation and chemotherapy is severe mucositis in the mouth, throat and digestive tract. If you’ve ever had a mouth ulcer, imagine that spread all over your mouth, tongue and throat combined with a total lack of saliva, and you still cannot fathom how bad this can get.
Two nursing experts, who have seen the realities of this condition up close and the distress it causes for the patient and their carers, who feel powerless to help, are focused on clinical trials of a formulation based on SXRG84 to alleviate and potentially prevent the severity of mucositis.
Dr Bora Kim, Senior Research Fellow at the School of Nursing, University of Sydney and Professor Kate White, Chair of Cancer Nursing at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Local Health District, shared with the room just how serious the implications are of mucositis.
Kate explained: “It’s really clinically significant because it can be so severe that we either have to stop treatment or we might have to have a break. And the minute you do that, you reduce the efficacy of the cancer treatment that you’re given. We also know that [incomplete treatment] is associated with increased morbidity.”
She added that severe mucositis symptoms persist for two to three weeks after the cancer treatment has finished, and that more and more, these head and neck cancers are occurring in people much younger than before, in their 40s and 50s due to the HPV virus.
Kate went through a range of current treatments, most of them ineffective but borne of carers’ desperate desire to find something – anything – that will offer relief.
Bora presented their project to the assembled experts, the push for human clinical trials of a formulation of SXRG84 to administer to patients before and during their treatment to potentially stem the severity of mucositis and speed up recovery.
“It’s at a very early stage, so we thought it would be a very good opportunity to share our plan, but also get some input, because we have a room full of people with diverse expertise.”
The three-year project will focus on developing an oral care product with questions like what should it taste like? What is the best consistency, liquid, paste or gel, for example? How do we apply it, is it a rinse or a spray?
The university researchers in the room were instantly on the case, asking further questions about the project, including diving deep into the fractions – those smaller components of SXRG84 that have different functions.
This project is an ongoing collaboration with Dr Pia Winberg, and you can read more about the journey in our story from last July.
