Combining antibiotics with silver nanoparticles: A potential treatment strategy against antimicrobial resistance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Maryam Afridi ◽  
Saeed Ahmad Khan ◽  
Ruqayya Afridi ◽  
Farman Ullah ◽  
Abdul Majid ◽  
...  

Growing resistance to currently approved antibiotics is posing serious concern worldwide. The multidrug-resistant organisms are a major cause of mortality and morbidity around the globe. The limited options to treat infections caused by resistant organism requires alternative strategies to increase the effectiveness of antibiotic for better clinical outcomes. Recent advances in nanotechnology have enabled the drugs to be used in nanoscale to increase the effectiveness of antibiotics. The use of nanoparticles to treat infectious diseases has a long history in the pharmaceutical market, and the versatility of these particles to incorporate various materials as carriers make it an attractive option to combat the current crisis of emerging antibacterial resistance. Silver, a metal with many medical applications, has inherent antimicrobial properties. Therefore, silver NPs are appearing as one of the best options to be used in combination with antibiotics to increase effectiveness against resistant bacteria. Here, we discuss the applications and mechanisms of silver NPs to treat microbial resistance in light of recent research.

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca H. Sunenshine ◽  
Laura A. Liedtke ◽  
Scott K. Fridkin ◽  
Larry J. Strausbaugh ◽  

AbstractBackground:Although guidelines for multidrug-resistant organisms generally include recommendations for contact precautions and surveillance cultures, it is not known how frequently U.S. hospitals implement these measures on a routine basis and whether infectious diseases consultants endorse their use.Methods:The Emerging Infections Network surveyed its members, infectious diseases consultants, to assess their use of and support for contact precautions and surveillance cultures for routine management of multidrug-resistant organisms in their principal inpatient workplace. Specifically, members were asked about use of these strategies for methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and multidrug-resistant, gram-negative bacilli on general wards, ICUs, and transplant units.Results:Overall, 400 (86%) of 463 respondents supported the routine use of contact precautions to control one or more multidrug-resistant organisms in at least one unit, and 89% worked in hospitals that use them. In contrast, 50% of respondents favored routine use of surveillance cultures to manage at least one multidrug-resistant organism in any unit, and 30% of respondents worked in hospitals that use them routinely in any unit. Members favored routine use of surveillance cultures significantly more in ICUs and transplant units than in general wards for each multidrug-resistant organism (P<.001).Conclusions:Most of the infectious diseases consultants endorsed the use of contact precautions for routine management of patients colonized or infected with multidrug-resistant organisms and work in hospitals that have implemented them. In contrast, infectious diseases consultants are divided about the role of routine surveillance cultures in multidrug-resistant organism management, and few work in hospitals that use them.


Antibiotics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 774
Author(s):  
Patricia Combarros-Fuertes ◽  
José M. Fresno ◽  
Maria Manuela Estevinho ◽  
Mário Sousa-Pimenta ◽  
M. Eugenia Tornadijo ◽  
...  

Antibacterial resistance has become a challenging situation worldwide. The increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens stresses the need for developing alternative or complementary antimicrobial strategies, which has led the scientific community to study substances, formulas or active ingredients used before the antibiotic era. Honey has been traditionally used not only as a food, but also with therapeutic purposes, especially for the topical treatment of chronic-infected wounds. The intrinsic characteristics and the complex composition of honey, in which different substances with antimicrobial properties are included, make it an antimicrobial agent with multiple and different target sites in the fight against bacteria. This, together with the difficulty to develop honey-resistance, indicates that it could become an effective alternative in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, against which honey has already shown to be effective. Despite all of these assets, honey possesses some limitations, and has to fulfill a number of requirements in order to be used for medical purposes.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 678
Author(s):  
Abdallah S. Abdelsattar ◽  
Rana Nofal ◽  
Salsabil Makky ◽  
Anan Safwat ◽  
Amera Taha ◽  
...  

The emergence and evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is considered a public health concern. Salmonella is one of the most common pathogens that cause high mortality and morbidity rates in humans, animals, and poultry annually. In this work, we developed a combination of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with bacteriophage (phage) as an antimicrobial agent to control microbial growth. The synthesized AgNPs with propolis were characterized by testing their color change from transparent to deep brown by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The phage ZCSE2 was found to be stable when combined with AgNPs. Both minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were evaluated for AgNPs, phage, and their combination. The results indicated that MIC and MBC values were equal to 23 µg/mL against Salmonella bacteria at a concentration of 107 CFU/mL. The combination of 0.4× MIC from AgNPs and phage with Multiplicity of Infection (MOI) 0.1 showed an inhibitory effect. This combination of AgNPs and phage offers a prospect of nanoparticles with significantly enhanced antibacterial properties and therapeutic performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1948
Author(s):  
Gianmarco Matta-Gutiérrez ◽  
Esther García-Morales ◽  
Yolanda García-Álvarez ◽  
Francisco Javier Álvaro-Afonso ◽  
Raúl Juan Molines-Barroso ◽  
...  

Multidrug-resistant organism infections have become important in recent years due to the increased prevalence of diabetic foot ulcers and their possible consequences. This study aimed to systematically review and evaluate ulcer duration, healing time, hospital stay, amputation, and mortality rates in patients with diabetic foot ulcers caused by infection with multidrug-resistant organisms. PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched in May 2020 to find observational studies in English about the clinical outcomes of multidrug-resistant organism infection in diabetic foot ulcers. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria, and these studies included 923 patients. The overall methodological quality of the study was moderate. Ulcer duration was described in six studies, and there was no practical association with multidrug-resistant organisms. Two out of three studies reported a longer healing time in multidrug-resistant organism infections than in non-multidrug-resistant organism infections. Clinical outcomes included the duration of hospitalisation, surgeries, amputations, and deaths. Lower limb amputation was the most reported clinical outcome in the included studies, and was more prevalent in the multidrug-resistant organism infections. We concluded that there was not enough evidence that multidrug-resistant organisms hindered the healing of diabetic foot ulcers. In contrast to the clinical outcomes, multidrug-resistant organisms affect both amputation rates and mortality rates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S423-S423
Author(s):  
Scott C Roberts ◽  
Jonathan D Rich ◽  
Duc T Pham ◽  
Rebecca Harap ◽  
Valentina Stosor

Abstract Background Infection is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the ventricular assist device (VAD) population. We performed a retrospective cohort study outlining the epidemiology of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) colonization and infection rates in this population. Methods We performed a longitudinal retrospective cohort of all patients receiving continuous-flow (axial and centrifugal) ventricular assist devices from July 2008 to September 2018 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Peri-operative prophylaxis from July 2008 to June 2013 was vancomycin, rifampin, ciprofloxacin, and fluconazole, and vancomycin plus cefuroxime from June 2013 to September 2018. VAD-specific and VAD-related Infections were classified according to ISHLT 2013 definitions. Patients were screened for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis or Enterococcus faecium, or extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Gram-negative rods. Statistics were performed using IBM® SPSS Statistics version 25.0. Comparative statistics were performed using two-sided Fisher’s exact test with a P-value of <0.05 deemed significant. Results A total of 89 patients with ventricular assist devices developed either VAD-specific or VAD-related infections and were included in the analysis. 77% of patients (n = 66) were colonized with an MDRO; 29% (n = 25) with MRSA, 73% (n = 63) with VRE, and 24% (n = 21) with an ESBL organism. 17.9% (n = 16) of patients who went on to develop infection was secondary to MDROs. Colonization with an MDRO was associated with subsequent infection secondary to these organisms (P = 0.018). Conclusion Colonization rates of multidrug-resistant organisms in the VAD population are high. VRE rates were significantly higher than MRSA or ESBL, possible as a result of peri-implantation utilization of vancomycin as surgical site prophylaxis. MDRO colonization was associated with progression to VAD-specific or VAD-related Infection. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 765-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Souli ◽  
Anastasia Antoniadou ◽  
Ioannis Katsarolis ◽  
Irini Mavrou ◽  
Elisabeth Paramythiotou ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of copper-coating in reducing environmental colonization in an intensive-care unit (ICU) with multidrug-resistant-organism (MDRO) endemicityDESIGNInterventional, comparative crossover trialSETTINGThe general ICU of Attikon University hospital in Athens, GreecePATIENTSThose admitted to ICU compartments A and B during the study periodMETHODSBefore any intervention (phase 1), the optimum sampling method using 2 nylon swabs was validated. In phase 2, 6 copper-coated beds (ie, with coated upper, lower, and side rails) and accessories (ie, coated side table, intravenous [i.v.] pole stands, side-cart handles, and manual antiseptic dispenser cover) were introduced as follows: During phase 2a (September 2011 to February 2012), coated items were placed next to noncoated ones (controls) in both compartments A and B; during phase 2b (May 2012 to January 2013), all copper-coated items were placed in compartment A, and all noncoated ones (controls) in compartment B. Patients were randomly assigned to available beds. Environmental samples were cultured quantitatively for clinically important bacteria. Clinical and demographic data were collected from medical records.RESULTSCopper coating significantly reduced the percentage of colonized surfaces (55.6% vs 72.5%; P<.0001), the percentage of surfaces colonized by MDR gram-negative bacteria (13.8% vs 22.7%; P=.003) or by enterococci (4% vs 17%; P=.014), the total bioburden (2,858 vs 7,631 cfu/100 cm2; P=.008), and the bioburden of gram-negative isolates, specifically (261 vs 1,266 cfu/100 cm2; P=.049). This effect was more pronounced when the ratio of coated surfaces around the patient was increased (phase 2b).CONCLUSIONSCopper-coated items in an ICU setting with endemic high antimicrobial resistance reduced environmental colonization by MDROs.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:765–771


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (32) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Desvars-Larrive ◽  
Werner Ruppitsch ◽  
Sarah Lepuschitz ◽  
Michael P Szostak ◽  
Joachim Spergser ◽  
...  

Background Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are an important wildlife species in cities, where they live in close proximity to humans. However, few studies have investigated their role as reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Aim We intended to determine whether urban rats at two highly frequented sites in Vienna, Austria, carry extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, fluoroquinolone-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and meticillin-resistant (MR) Staphylococcus spp. (MRS). Methods We surveyed the presence of antimicrobial resistance in 62 urban brown rats captured in 2016 and 2017 in Vienna, Austria. Intestinal and nasopharyngeal samples were cultured on selective media. We characterised the isolates and their antimicrobial properties using microbiological and genetic methods including disk diffusion, microarray analysis, sequencing, and detection and characterisation of plasmids. Results Eight multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli and two extensively drug-resistant New Delhi metallo-β-lactamases-1 (NDM-1)-producing Enterobacter xiangfangensis ST114 (En. cloacae complex) were isolated from nine of 62 rats. Nine Enterobacteriaceae isolates harboured the bla CTX-M gene and one carried a plasmid-encoded ampC gene (bla CMY-2). Forty-four MRS were isolated from 37 rats; they belonged to seven different staphylococcal species: S. fleurettii, S. sciuri, S. aureus, S. pseudintermedius, S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus (all mecA-positive) and mecC-positive S. xylosus. Conclusion Our findings suggest that brown rats in cities are a potential source of multidrug-resistant bacteria, including carbapenem-resistant En. xiangfangensis ST114. Considering the increasing worldwide urbanisation, rodent control remains an important priority for health in modern cities.


mSystems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez

ABSTRACT Machines hold the potential to replace humans in many societal endeavors, and drug discovery is no exception. Antibiotic innovation has been stalled for decades, which has coincided with an alarming increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria. Since the beginning of the antibiotic era, the natural world has been our greatest innovator, giving rise to nearly all antibiotics available today. As mere observers of the vast molecular diversity produced by Earth’s organisms, we have perfected the art of isolating novel chemistries with life-saving antimicrobial properties. However, today we are at a crossroads, as no new molecular scaffolds have been discovered for decades. We may need to look beyond the natural world into the virtual dimension for solutions and harness present-day computational power to help solve the grand global health challenge of antibiotic resistance. Computer-made drugs may enable the discovery of unprecedented functions in biological systems and help replenish our arsenal of effective antibiotics.


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