Maggot debridement therapy, the intentional treatment
of non-healing wounds or chronic osteomyelitis
with maggots of calliphorid flies, was scientifically and
therapeutically introduced by William S. Baer in the
1920s [1] , became popular in the early 1930s [2–3] , but
because of the introduction of antibiotics and improved
surgical procedures was abandoned in the 1940s. However,
the method re-emerged in 1988 for the treatment of
chronic wounds [4–7] .
The use of maggots for the treatment of wounds has
three beneficial effects: debridement of necrotic tissue,
promotion of tissue granulation [8] , and wound-antisepsis
due to antibacterial secretions [9] . In 1931, Baer already
noted that maggots augment the healing of chronic
wounds. Shortly thereafter, the presence of an antibacterial
substance in the body and secretions of Lucilia
sericata was demonstrated by Weil et al. [10] , Robinson
and Norwood [11] , and Simmons [12] . Furthermore, destruction
of ingested bacteria in the intestinal tract of the
maggots was demonstrated by Robinson and Norwood
[13] and confirmed by Mumcuoglu et al. [14] .
In recent years, several reports described the presence
of two specific peptides with antibacterial activity, either
in the body or the secretions of maggots – one peptide
with a molecular weight of 2–10 kDa, and the other with
a molecular weight of less than 1 kDa [15–18] .