Tilapia skin gives hope to severely burnt patients

Health experts are doing more studies on tilapia skin following initial key findings that it can quicken wound healing in situations of severe burns.

This was revealed by surgeons during the ongoing Surgical Scientific Conference and the Surgical Landscape Exhibition which started on Tuesday. The revelation is also reinforced by a 2023 report of a study conducted by American researchers.

“There are many advances in research regarding the management of burns to cover the burn wounds,” Dr George William Galiwango, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at CORSU Rehabilitation Hospital in Uganda said during the conference in Kampala.

“Tilapia skin is one of those together with the use of other biological membranes like banana leaf. Now, these are still undergoing research,” he said, quickly adding that they have not yet done any coverage of burn wounds with any of the two.

“But it's certainly an area where we can actually improve and save more lives,” he noted.

Dr Galiwango said they are looking at such advances and the planned establishment of a skin bank in Uganda to address challenges in handling patients with burn wounds.

“The skin bank will be a great savior for many patients because it's one of those body organs that when someone is brain dead or even cadaveric, we can harvest lots of skin,” he explained.

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The American researcher Carissa Garrity and colleagues, in their 2023 report published by the National Institutes of Health of America, indicated that treatment with tilapia skin can provide superior results in preventing bacterial infection and quickening healing in mice with “third-degree burns.”

“The fish skin groups exhibited two times more vascularization (restoration of blood pathways/vessels on the skin areas) and two times higher expression of antimicrobial defensin peptide (a substance that kills bacteria) in comparison to controls,” the report reads.

Researchers said "deeper analysis of the fish skin revealed the presence of antimicrobial peptides (substances that kill bacteria).”

“Collectively, these data suggest that fish skin can serve as an innovative and cost-effective therapeutic alternative for burn victims to facilitate vascularization and reduce bacterial infection,” the researchers concluded. 

During the exhibition and the scientific conference which started in Kololo and is still going on in Entebbe, different hospitals, scientists and manufacturers are showcasing advances in the country's capabilities in handling complex surgeries. 

Uganda conducted her first kidney transplant in December 2023 amid plans to do the second one and also a liver transplant this year, reflecting giant steps towards major scientific breakthroughs.