Silver has been used as an antimicrobial agent for a long time in different forms, but silver nanoparticles (nanosilver) have recently been recognized as potent antimicrobial agents. Although nanosilver is finding diverse medical applications such as silver-based dressings and silver-coated medical devices, its dermal and systemic toxicity via dermal use has not yet been identified. In this stu...

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are the world's most important nanomaterial and nanotoxicant. The aim of this study was to determine the early stages of interactions between Ag NPs and plant cells, and to investigate their physiological roles. We have shown that the addition of Ag NPs to cultivation medium, at levels above 300 mg L(-1) , inhibited Arabidopsis thaliana root elongation and leaf exp...

The extensive use of nanoparticles in a variety of applications has raised great concerns regarding theirbiological effects and environmental fate. Silver nanoparticle, often referred to as nanosilver (n-Ag), maycause health problems because of its wide and ever growing use in many applications. n-Ag is used intreatments of wounds, disinfection of water and/or air and coatings textiles. n-Ag is...

Combination of chlorhexidine (CHX) and silver ions could engender synergistic bactericidal effect and improve the bactericidal efficacy. It is highly desired to develop an efficient carrier for the antiseptics codelivery targeting infection foci with acidic microenvironment. In this work, monodisperse mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) nanospheres were successfully developed as an ideal carri...

Silver nanoparticles are extensively used in antibacterial applications. However, the mechanisms of their antibacterial action are not yet fully explored. We studied the solubility-driven toxicity of 100 × 6100 nm (mean primary diameter × length) silver nanowires (NWs) to recombinant bioluminescent Escherichia coli as a target representative of enteric pathogens. The bacteria were exposed to si...

Infected superficial wounds were traditionally controlled by topical antibiotics until the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Silver (Ag) is a kernel for alternative antibacterial agents to fight this resistance quandary. The present study demonstrates a method for immobilizing small-sized (~5 nm) silver nanoparticles on silica matrix to form a nanosilver-silica (Ag-SiO₂) composi...

The impact of silver nanoparticles (NPs) and microparticles (MPs) on bacterial and fungal assemblages was studied in soils collected from a low arctic site. Two different concentrations (0.066% and 6.6%) of Ag NPs and Ag MPs were tested in microcosms that were exposed to temperatures mimicking a winter to summer transition. Toxicity was monitored by differential respiration, phospholipid fatty ...

It is unclear whether the antimicrobial activities of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are exclusively mediated by the release of silver ions (Ag+) or, instead, are due to combined nanoparticle and silver ion effects. Therefore, it is essential to quantify dissolved Ag in nanosilver suspensions for investigations of nanoparticle toxicity. We developed a method to measure dissolved Ag in Ag+/AgNPs m...

Objective(s): This study aimed to find the effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) (40 nm) on skin wound healing in mice Mus musculus when innate immune system has been suppressed.Materials and Methods: A group of 50 BALB/c mice of about 8 weeks (weighting 24.2±3.0 g) were randomly divided into two groups: Ag-NPs and control group, each with 25 mice. Once a day at the same time, a volume of 50...

Nanosilver, comprising silver nanoparticles, is attracting interest for a range of biomedical applications owing to its potent antibacterial activity. It has recently been demonstrated that nanosilver has useful anti-inflammatory effects and improves wound healing, which could be exploited in developing better dressings for wounds and burns. The teratogenicity potential for intraperitoneally do...