Difference between revisions of "Team:UCL/Lubricant"

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                     <div class="col-md-10 col-md-offset-1 ess-template-general animate-box"><h2> <center> The problem </center> </h2>
 
                     <div class="col-md-10 col-md-offset-1 ess-template-general animate-box"><h2> <center> The problem </center> </h2>
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                        <h4> <p> When talking about ageing most of the diseases and implications that come to mind are quite obvious: loss of sight and hearing, loss of mental capacity, arthritis and many more. One that doesn't come to mind very often are Sexually Transmitted Infections, such as chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea. The fact of the matter is though that between 2007 and 2011 the number of chlamydia and syphilis increased by 31% and respectively 52% in the American population over the age of 65. </p>
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<h3> Catheter Lube </h3>                       
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<h4> <p>  
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Catheter lube is very commonly used when inserting urinary catheters in hospitals. As a large segment of the population receiving these urinary catheters are elderly (65+) and a lot of these catheters can result in UTIs, we have decided to develop a lube that detects and report (via a colour change) different pathogens associated with such infections. This lube would then be used to aid the insertion of catheters as well as further monitoring of the sterility.  
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</p>
  
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<p> This may initially come as a surprise but it is a reality nowadays, especially in elderly care facilities. With people living for longer, medication countering the effects of erectile dysfunction and a lot of free time it can be crudely compared to an American frat house. This might not yet be seen as a problem as people of all ages should be able to enjoy themselves however they want to. Yet the real problems start when there are secondary effects from the STIs, such as arthritis, vision loss and other symptoms. Those will usually be classified as just age-related problems and treated as such, rather than being treated appropriately. </p>
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<h3> Catheters in Practice  </h3>
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<p> In hospitals nowadays it is very common to have a urinary catheter inserted to drain the bladder. Catheters can either be intermittent, where they are only inserted temporarily and removed as soon as the bladder is empty, or indwelling, where they are in place for a prolonged period of time (days or weeks. ) The NHSN (National Healthcare Safety Network) had found that in the EU around 17.5% of hospital patients need indwelling catheters: 45-79% of which were in a critical care unit, 17% in the medical ward, 23% in the surgical ward and 9% in rehabilitation .  </p>
 +
<p> Around about 73% of the patients receiving these catheters are above the age of 65. Now the problem arises as about 28% of these elderly patients will develop a UTI (urinary tract infection), due to the use of a urinary catheter. 60-80% of patients with indwelling catheters receive antimicrobials to counteract asymptomatic bacteriuria, which can lead to microbial resistance. In practice catheter lube is used to try to redude the risk of infection, pain, friction and general discomfort.
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</p>
 
 
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<h3> The idea </h3>
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<h3> IrrE Concept </h3>
 
 
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<p> As with age the flora of the vagina changes and many post-menopausal women suffer of vaginal dryness , we have come up with the idea of developing a lube that can detect STIs through a colour change. This will allow the elderly population to continue having their fun whilst keeping them safer. The idea is that when the lube comes into contact with some of the STIs it would change colour, allowing both parties to get a proper check-up and treatment. </p>
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<p> IrrE is a part (BBa_K729001 ) from a former UCL iGEM team, where, when E.Coli was transformed, it protected against salt, oxidative and thermal shock. In our case we would see if E.Coli transformed with IrrE is better adapted to living in lube than wild type E.Coli. If so the IrrE transformed E.Coli cells could be used as a chassi to introduce pathogen detecting and reporting systems into. </p>
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<p> This will be realised using a bacterial system that can live within lube and can detect STIs and then produce a colour pigment to show whether an STI is present or not. To allow for bacteria to live in lube we are using a previous iGem Part:BBa_K729001, called irrE,, which protects the bacteria against salt, oxidative and thermal shock . If this irrE allows for the bacteria to better live within lube we can then introduce the detection system. </p>
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<h3> Experimental Design </h3>
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<p> The experiment to be conducted is to see whether IrrE transformed E.Coli can more readily survive in lube than wild type E.Coli. To test this firstly wilt type E.Coli will be introduced into different concentrations of lube and LB and be grown over several hours. Then the same will be done with the transformed cells and we will check whether there is a significant difference between the growth curves of the different cells in different concentrations. </p>
  
 
<ol>
 
<ol>
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<li> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/emanuel-sex-and-the-single-senior.html?_r=0 </li>
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<li> "Urinary Catheterisation - NHS Choices." NHS Choices. Department of Health, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016. </li>
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<li> https://www.womens-health-concern.org/help-and-advice/factsheets/focus-series/vaginal-dryness/ </li>
+
<li> Nicolle, Lindsay E. "Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections." Antimicrob Resist Infect Control Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control 3.1 (2014): 23. Web. </li>
 +
<li> June, 2015 22, and Lakshmi Muthuraman4 March, 2016 10:32 Am. "Selecting Gel Types for Urinary Catheter Insertion." Nursing Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016. </li>
 
<li> http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K729001 </li>
 
<li> http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K729001 </li>
 
</ol> </h4>
 
</ol> </h4>

Revision as of 00:23, 15 October 2016

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UCL iGEM 2016 | BioSynthAge

LUBRICANT



Catheter Lubricant

Reduced mobility of elderly leads to a higher use of catheters by the elderly population. High incidence of urinery tract infections after using a catheter is a result of build up of harmful bacteria. Find out how we are designing a lubricant that can detect and kill infectious bacteria leading to these problems.

The problem

Catheter Lube

Catheter lube is very commonly used when inserting urinary catheters in hospitals. As a large segment of the population receiving these urinary catheters are elderly (65+) and a lot of these catheters can result in UTIs, we have decided to develop a lube that detects and report (via a colour change) different pathogens associated with such infections. This lube would then be used to aid the insertion of catheters as well as further monitoring of the sterility.

Catheters in Practice

In hospitals nowadays it is very common to have a urinary catheter inserted to drain the bladder. Catheters can either be intermittent, where they are only inserted temporarily and removed as soon as the bladder is empty, or indwelling, where they are in place for a prolonged period of time (days or weeks. ) The NHSN (National Healthcare Safety Network) had found that in the EU around 17.5% of hospital patients need indwelling catheters: 45-79% of which were in a critical care unit, 17% in the medical ward, 23% in the surgical ward and 9% in rehabilitation .

Around about 73% of the patients receiving these catheters are above the age of 65. Now the problem arises as about 28% of these elderly patients will develop a UTI (urinary tract infection), due to the use of a urinary catheter. 60-80% of patients with indwelling catheters receive antimicrobials to counteract asymptomatic bacteriuria, which can lead to microbial resistance. In practice catheter lube is used to try to redude the risk of infection, pain, friction and general discomfort.

IrrE Concept

IrrE is a part (BBa_K729001 ) from a former UCL iGEM team, where, when E.Coli was transformed, it protected against salt, oxidative and thermal shock. In our case we would see if E.Coli transformed with IrrE is better adapted to living in lube than wild type E.Coli. If so the IrrE transformed E.Coli cells could be used as a chassi to introduce pathogen detecting and reporting systems into.

Experimental Design

The experiment to be conducted is to see whether IrrE transformed E.Coli can more readily survive in lube than wild type E.Coli. To test this firstly wilt type E.Coli will be introduced into different concentrations of lube and LB and be grown over several hours. Then the same will be done with the transformed cells and we will check whether there is a significant difference between the growth curves of the different cells in different concentrations.

  1. "Urinary Catheterisation - NHS Choices." NHS Choices. Department of Health, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.
  2. Nicolle, Lindsay E. "Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections." Antimicrob Resist Infect Control Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control 3.1 (2014): 23. Web.
  3. June, 2015 22, and Lakshmi Muthuraman4 March, 2016 10:32 Am. "Selecting Gel Types for Urinary Catheter Insertion." Nursing Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.
  4. http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K729001