Antimicrobial Effects of Biogenic Nanoparticles

Abstract

Infectious diseases pose one of the greatest health challenges in the medical world. Though numerous antimicrobial drugs are commercially available, they often lack effectiveness against recently developed multidrug resistant (MDR) microorganisms. This results in high antibiotic dose administration and a need to develop new antibiotics, which in turn requires time, money, and labor investments. Recently, biogenic metallic nanoparticles have proven their effectiveness against MDR microorganisms, individually and in synergy with the current/conventional antibiotics. Importantly, biogenic nanoparticles are easy to produce, facile, biocompatible, and environmentally friendly in nature. In addition, biogenic nanoparticles are surrounded by capping layers, which provide them with biocompatibility and long-term stability. Moreover, these capping layers provide an active surface for interaction with biological components, facilitated by free active surface functional groups. These groups are available for modification, such as conjugation with antimicrobial drugs, genes, and peptides, in order to enhance their efficacy and delivery. This review summarizes the conventional antibiotic treatments and highlights the benefits of using nanoparticles in combating infectious diseases.

Green Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles from Pomegranate (Punica granatum) Extracts and Characterization of Their Antibacterial Activity

“…Bacterial pathogens cause infections that are typically treated using antibiotics [ 1 , 2 ]. Antibiotics are antibacterial agents that inhibit the growth of bacterial pathogens through diffident modes of action ranging from inhibition of enzyme action to interfering with DNA, RNA and protein synthesis [ 3 ]. These processes ultimately result in the disruption of the bacterial cell membrane structure, leading to cell death [ 2 , 3 ].…”

“…Antibiotics are antibacterial agents that inhibit the growth of bacterial pathogens through diffident modes of action ranging from inhibition of enzyme action to interfering with DNA, RNA and protein synthesis [ 3 ]. These processes ultimately result in the disruption of the bacterial cell membrane structure, leading to cell death [ 2 , 3 ]. Recent studies have demonstrated that bacterial pathogens are exhibiting resistance against a variety of antibiotics [ 4 ], thereby limiting the effectiveness of these agents [ 5 ].…”

Electrospun Silver Nanoparticles-Embedded Feather Keratin/Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Poly(ethylene oxide) Antibacterial Composite Nanofibers

“…The application of nanofibers in the biomedical field requires antimicrobial properties for materials. One approach is incorporating inorganic nanoparticles, among which silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) played an important alternative antibacterial agent and have been studied against many types of microbes [27]. Because of their antimicrobial activities, AgNPs have been extensively used for preparing antimicrobial nanofibers.…”

The Antibiofilm Efficacy of Gold Nanoparticles Against Acinetobacter baumannii

“…Studies also found that both AgNPs and AuNPs of nanoparticles inhibited the biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and E. coli at the sub-MIC concentrations of 6.25 mg/ml for AgNPs and 12.5 mg/ml for the AuNPs. Biofilm inhibition at sub-MIC concentrations might be due to the non-lethal damage or the inhibitory effect on the expression of genes related to motility and biofilm formation [20]. A study carried out by Yu et al [21] showed that the AuNPs exhibited antibiofilm activity on P. aeruginosa.…”