The antimicrobial efficacy of copper, cobalt, zinc and silver nanoparticles: alone and in combination

Abstract

With the advent of nanotechnology, there has been an extensive interest in the antimicrobial potential of metals. The rapid and widespread development of antimicrobial-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria has prompted recent research into developing novel or alternative antimicrobial agents. In this study, the antimicrobial efficacy of metallic copper, cobalt, silver and zinc nanoparticles was assessed against Escherichia coli (NCTC 10538), S. aureus (ATCC 6538) along with three clinical isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis (A37, A57 and A91) and three clinical isolates of E. coli (Strains 1, 2 and 3) recovered from bone marrow transplant patients and patients with cystitis respectively. Antimicrobial sensitivity assays, including agar diffusion and broth macro-dilution to determine minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC/MBC) and time-kill/synergy assays, were used to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of the agents. The panel of test microorganisms, including antibiotic-resistant strains, demonstrated a broad range of sensitivity to the metals investigated. MICs of the type culture strains were in the range of 0.625-5.0 mg ml −1. While copper and cobalt exhibited no difference in sensitivity between Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms, silver and zinc showed strain specificity. A significant decrease (p < 0.001) in the bacterial density of E. coli and S. aureus was demonstrated by silver, copper and zinc in as little as two hours. Furthermore, combining metal nanoparticles reduced the time required to achieve a complete kill.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-605X/acd03f
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Biosciences
College of Health & Life Sciences > Chronic and Communicable Conditions
College of Health & Life Sciences
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > Aston Institute of Materials Research (AIMR)
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Computer Science and Digital Technologies > Electronics & Computer Engineering
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Computer Science and Digital Technologies
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > Engineering for Health
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > Aston Advanced Materials
Aston University (General)
Additional Information: Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Uncontrolled Keywords: antimicrobial,antimicrobial resistance,heavy metals,nanoparticles,synergism,Bioengineering,Biomaterials,Biomedical Engineering
Publication ISSN: 1748-605X
Last Modified: 02 Dec 2024 08:52
Date Deposited: 28 Apr 2023 15:49
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://iopscie ... 748-605X/acd03f (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2023-07
Published Online Date: 2023-05-09
Accepted Date: 2023-04-25
Authors: Raja, Farah
Worthington, Tony (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-1906-3357)
Martin, Richard (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-6013-2334)

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