Sarang burung Walet (https://id.wikipedia.org)
Sarang burung Walet yang sudah dibuat menjadi gel sarang walet atau wiftlet gel
Tim peneliti bersama dosen pembimbing
Patients of diabetes melitus (DM) has the risk of having their gum and mouth cavity injured due to the high glucose level that triggers infection and reduced immune system. Prolonged infected gum can also disrupt bones that support the teeth, making the teeth vulnerable.
Seeing this condition, students of Dentistry UGM and Pharmacy UGM were inspired to conduct a research in injuries in gum among people with DM. Eufrasia Claudia, Lauda Pascha, Effendi Halim, and Adityakrisna Yoshi (Dentistry) and Dunstania Maria (Pharmacy) under the supervision of drg. Juni Handajani, have experimented using swiftlet saliva to treat gum injuries.
Dunstania said the nest of swiflet (Aerodramus fuciphagus) is made from its saliva which has hardened. It contains compounds useful for accelerating gum injuries.
“The swiflet nest contains sialic acid, calcium, glycoprotein and Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) that can accelerate healing of the gum,” she said on Wednesday on campus at UGM.
The EGF component can cover the injuries and help the formation of new cells and the surrounding for regeneration.
“We made the swiftlet by extracting the nest with water and thickening agent. We sterilise it using UV rays to ensure quality,” she said.
Then they conducted animal testing on 24 Sprague dawley mice.
Effendy said this showed recovery of the cells, the swiflet gel proved 3 days faster recovery than positive control treatment.
“The swiflet gel has the potential for DM patients, thus it can be made a reference for dentists who have patients with DM,” he said.