Antimicrobial Effects of TiO ₂ and Ag ₂ O Nanoparticles Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria and Leishmania Parasites

Abstract

Nanotechnology is the creation of functional materials, devices and systems at atomic and molecular scales (1-100 nm), where properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale. The use of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in medical research is growing rapidly. Recently, nanotechnologic developments in microbiology have gained importance in the field of chemotherapy. Bacterial strains that are resistant to current antibiotics have become serious public health problems that raise the need to develop new bactericidal materials. Metal oxide nanoparticles, especially TiO(2) and Ag(2)O nanoparticles, have demonstrated significant antibacterial activity. Therefore, it is thought that this property of metal oxide nanoparticles could effectively be used as a novel solution strategy. In this review, we focus on the unique properties of nanoparticles, their mechanism of action as antibacterial agents and recent studies in which the effects of visible and UV-light induced TiO(2) and Ag(2)O nanoparticles on drug-resistant bacteria have been documented. In addition, from to previous results of our studies, antileishmanial effects of metal oxide nanoparticles are also demonstrated, indicating that metal oxide nanoparticles can also be effective against eukaryotic infectious agents. Conversely, despite their significant potential in antimicrobial applications, the toxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles restricts their use in humans. However, recent studies infer that metal oxide nanoparticles have considerable potential to be the first-choice for antibacterial and antiparasitic applications in the future, provided that researchers can bring new ideas in order to cope with their main problem of toxicity.

Photoactive TiO2 antibacterial coating on surgical external fixation pins for clinical application

“…Complete bacterial inactivation was not achieved, probably because of the high initial bacterial concentration (4×10 8 CFU/mL) chosen for the study. Our results confirm that this process is also efficient for multiresistant bacteria, 19,[48][49][50] with only small differences between the two tested strains.…”

The Synergic Activity of Eucalyptus Leaf Oil and Silver Nanoparticles Against Some Pathogenic Bacteria

“…There are a lot of other reports on the antibacterial effects of various NPs, but some reports were contradictory (37)(38)(39)(40). These reports suggest that NPs toxicity mechanisms are exceedingly complicated and depend on various factors such as composition, surface modification, intrinsic properties, and the bacterial species.…”

Antibacterial Activities of Nanoparticles of Titanium dioxide, Intrinsic and Doped With Indium and Iron

“…Most researchers have demonstrated so far the mechanism of photocatalytic elimination of different microorganisms using titanium dioxide with UV or sunlight. This is the only mechanism of action resulting in the loss of structural integrity of the cells membranes in the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles, although lipid peroxidation by the release of reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radicals and superoxide has also been proposed [26] . The results obtained in this study are compared with two studies; the first made in 2010, for Reazaei-Zarchi et al [9] , which determine the antibacterial activity of TiO 2 nanoparticles against E. coli, without the presence of UV rays, using concentrations of 500 and 1000 µg/ml; obtaining a value of p < 0.05 at these concentrations.…”