Interdisciplinary approach to synthesis, stability and antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles

INTRODUCTION: Chronic wounds are an increasing problem for health care all over the world. New treatment options for this illness are desired, especially antimicrobial agents. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) can be a potential substance that may be used in treatment of chronic wounds due to the growing antibiotic resistance. AIM: To synthetize silver nanoparticles that are stable, pure and effective against bacteria. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The synthesis was conducted with chemical methods using different coating factors. The antistaphylococcal properties were analysed with the microdilution method to determine minimal inhibition concentrations (MIC) value. AgNPs were purified by dialysis. Moreover, keratinocyte cytotoxic properties of AgNPs were also assessed. RESULTS: A method of synthesizing stable and efficient AgNPs has been developed. The type of the coating substance has a significant effect on AgNPs antimicrobial properties. Most of the silver nanoparticles, synthesized based on literature data, turned out to be durable during a few hours. This study has proven that depending on the coating factor, AgNPs stability ranges from 4 weeks to even 12 months. Unfortunately, the type of the stabilizer used also affects the cytotoxicity of AgNPs. It has been shown that dialysis is a substance purification method that is cheap, simple and easy to apply when dealing with high volume solutions. CONCLUSIONS: AgNPs could be an alternative to widely used antibiotics and disinfectants. Nevertheless, the introduction of those substances to health care requires detailed long-term research not only in the field of safe use, yet also durability and purity of AgNPs solutions used.