Newcastle University team developing treatment which could save sight of chemical attack victims

Researchers from Newcastle University are working on a treatment that could stop the damaging effects of alkaline on eyes. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Pioneering treatment which could save the sight of victims of corrosive chemical attacks is being developed by scientists in the North East.

A team from Newcastle University is working on the enzyme treatment which can stop the damaging effects of alkaline on eyes.

The use of chemicals as a weapon is a crime which appears to be on the rise in England and Wales - and has been blighting the North East in recent years.

Last week four men were jailed for a total of almost 120 years for their roles in a spate of attacks on Tyneside that left one man dead and a woman without her sight in one eye.

According to the Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI), it is women who are increasingly the target and in many instances it is eyes that suffer the most damage.

Shannelle Farrier was sprayed in the face with chemicals in an attack on her doorstep in Newcastle. Credit: Shannelle Farrier

Professor Che Connon, from Newcastle University, said: "It's a small part of your body but if that's affected it has a big consequence - losing your vision.

"The effect of the damage to the tissue is obviously greater in terms of how the victim lives on afterwards."

The researchers at the lab at the Centre for Life are offering new hope after identifying that alkali chemical burns can lead to a stiffening of the edge of the cornea.

They say this kills off or alters vital stem cells that exist to help maintain the surface of the eye.

Clinical trials are now underway of a technique to treat the stiffened area with an enzyme that restores the original softness, helping maintain the stem cells and allowing them to stimulate healing.

Professor Che Connon says though the eyes are a small part of the body, the damage from an alkali can be life-changing. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

"One of the benefits of this treatment is that it's not a stem cell therapy," continued Professor Connon.

"It's affecting the stem cells but you don't have the expense of trying to grow stem cells and introducing them to the patient - which is a therapy but a very expensive one.

"This just allows you to chemically modify the edge of the cornea with an enzyme using an is very cheap - restoring the correct properties so the stem cells that are already in the body can behave correctly."

While the team continue to look at work which could transform the outcome for victims of such attacks, it is hoped that the number of people requiring such treatment could be reduced if the crime itself is curbed.

Professor Connon added: "It's very quick to do and the affects are permanent and life-changing, and long-lasting."

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