Issue 38, 2024

Enhanced antibacterial efficacy: rapid analysis of silver-decorated azithromycin-infused Soluplus® nanoparticles against E. coli and S. epidermidis biofilms

Abstract

The escalating threat of antibiotic-resistant bacterial biofilms necessitates innovative antimicrobial strategies. This study introduces silver-decorated azithromycin-infused Soluplus® nanoparticles (Ag-AZI-Sol NPs) synthesized via a controlled emulsion diffusion method to ensure sustained release of antimicrobial silver ions for over six hours—a critical factor for continuous antibacterial efficacy. The efficacy of these nanoparticles was evaluated against biofilms formed by Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis), pathogens that cause hospital-acquired infections. Concentrations of 5 and 10 μg mL−1 of Ag-AZI-Sol NPs induced significant morphological changes within the biofilms, disrupting the bacterial extracellular matrix as observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This disruption peaked between two and six hours, coinciding with damage to bacterial cells by the silver ions. Antibacterial assay measurements confirmed a significant reduction in the growth rate among the Ag-AZI-Sol NP-treated bacteria compared with controls. Electrochemical analysis using laser-induced graphene (LIG) and chronoamperometry revealed a decline in current, indicating an effective antibacterial effect. This innovative biosensing technique makes use of the high conductivity and surface area of LIG to detect changes in bacterial activity quickly and sensitively. Our findings highlight the potent microbicidal properties of Ag-AZI-Sol NPs and suggest diverse applications from food processing to medical device coatings.

Graphical abstract: Enhanced antibacterial efficacy: rapid analysis of silver-decorated azithromycin-infused Soluplus® nanoparticles against E. coli and S. epidermidis biofilms

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 6 2024
Accepted
07 8 2024
First published
07 8 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 17877-17885

Enhanced antibacterial efficacy: rapid analysis of silver-decorated azithromycin-infused Soluplus® nanoparticles against E. coli and S. epidermidis biofilms

M. M. Jaligam, C. Takahashi, B. Heidt and A. Q. Shen, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 17877 DOI: 10.1039/D4NR02583K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements