Abstract
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been imposed as an excellent antimicrobial agent being able to combat bacteria in vitro and in vivo causing infections. The antibacterial capacity of AgNPs covers Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including multidrug resistant strains. AgNPs exhibit multiple and simultaneous mechanisms of action and in combination with antibacterial agents as organic compounds or antibiotics it has shown synergistic effect against pathogens bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The characteristics of silver nanoparticles make them suitable for their application in medical and healthcare products where they may treat infections or prevent them efficiently. With the urgent need for new efficient antibacterial agents, this review aims to establish factors affecting antibacterial and cytotoxic effects of silver nanoparticles, as well as to expose the advantages of using AgNPs as new antibacterial agents in combination with antibiotic, which will reduce the dosage needed and prevent secondary effects associated to both.
Highlights
Silver in all its forms has been historically used as an antimicrobial agent by itself or combined with other technologies [1]
The fact that the nanoparticles exhibit variable antibacterial activity according to their properties allows their manipulation and fabrication based on the final desired objectives of the nanoparticles to be synthesized, emerging an antimicrobial agent that can be prepared with optimized properties
The results revealed that both bacteria became tolerant to the nanoparticles, which was mainly reflected in the value of their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) that increased from 3.38 mg/L to 13.5 mg/L in E. coli after the various rounds of culture, and the same effect was observed in P. aeruginosa
Summary
Silver in all its forms has been historically used as an antimicrobial agent by itself or combined with other technologies [1]. These have shown greater capacity and higher surface (area-to-volume ratio) compared to silver in its bulk form At the nanoscale, this material exhibits unique electrical, optical, and catalytic properties, which has led to the investigation and fabrication of products for targeted drug delivery, diagnosis, detection, and imaging [1,8]. The antibacterial mechanisms and investigations related to pathogenic bacteria are presented with the objective of highlighting the advantages of using AgNPs-based products to combat infections caused by these bacteria. For this last purpose, some examples of current biomedical applications of AgNPs are presented
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