Comparative analysis of collagen-1 amongst locally-farmed tilapia samples as potential xenograft for partial-thickness burns

Background: Tilapia farming is amongst the most lucrative in terms of yield and return of investments in the aquaculture industry in Thailand. The sustainable supply of tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) can be exploited to reconsider the fish species as a huge potential for Thailand’s medical sector, particularly on xenograft as an innovative treatment for burns. Methods: Collagen content quantification by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is done on two samples: Chitralada I tilapia (Thai locally cultured strain of Oreochromis niloticus) and pink tilapia (commercially cultured strain by Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL) skin to compare the amount of type I collagen (COL-I) by measuring one of its major amino acids, hydroxyproline, with Nile tilapia skin which has been used as xenograft in Brazil.   Results: The results showed that there is no significant difference in the amount of hydroxyproline amongst the two strains. Chitralada I tilapia sample contains 9.01 g/100g (9.01%) and pink tilapia sample contains 18.55 g/100g (18.55%) of hydroxyproline respectively. Conclusions: Since there are minor differences between the amount of hydroxyproline in Thai locally-farmed tilapia and Nile tilapia; therefore, Thai locally-farmed tilapia xenograft can be a possible choice for burn treatment.