Lactoferrin prevents biofilm formation at wound

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Wound healing is a major health issue for the elderly. Biofilm development at the wound site renders many existing treatments ineffective in treating wound pathogens because when bacteria is protected by biofilm it increases its resistance to antibiotics. Bacteria protected by biofilm demonstrate a 100 to 1000 fold increase in resistance to antibiotics. Recent research has shown that human lactoferrin is effective in preventing biofilm formation. Production of recombinant human lactoferrin (rhLF) in rice grain provides the foundation for large quantities of raw material at an affordable cost. A rhLF-based treatment to enhance wound healing is proposed. In phase I, rice grain will be scaled up and a process to efficiently purify lactoferrin from rice grain will be developed. This procedure will be used to prepare quality rhLF, which would then be used to test rhLF's effect on biofilm formation for various bacterial strains isolated from wound site including antibiotic resistant strains.