Agharkar Research Institute develops new Xerogel dressing for faster blood clotting

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Researchers from Agharkar Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology (DST) have developed a highly porous spongy have developed a porous composite xerogel dressing incorporating silica nanoparticles and calcium that can help blood clot rapidly and provide relief for uncontrolled hemorrhage. The composite showed significant improvement in rate of blood clotting in comparison to commercial dressing.

Uncontrolled hemorrhage is one of the leading causes of traumatic death resulting from accidents or injuries and during military or surgical operations. Improved hemostatic materials are urgently required to reduce blood losses. The hemostatic dressing, supplemented with substances like silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) and calcium, act as intraceullular receptor agonists. Scientists from the institute studied composite material and found that it increased the blood clotting index by 13-fold in comparison to commercial dressing clotting capacity. The well-characterized xerogel showed presence of multiple pores of around 30 µm size that contributed to the high absorbance capacity of the dressing. The supplements improved the clotting capacity and resulted in quick absorbance of blood.

The xerogel hemostatic dressing showed enhanced platelet aggregation due to the development of well-formed pseudopodia in the activated platelets resulting in agglutination which play a major role in the clotting process. In addition, the composite enhanced calcium release, and its extrusion. The study published in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science indicates that intracellular molecular mechanisms of platelet activation through PAR1 gene activation and calcium store release-- a significant event in the activation of platelets, are responsible for the hemostatic efficiency of xerogel composite. Such dressings can provide a potential hemostatic solution to reduce blood loss, disability, and mortality during surgery and trauma care.