Applications and Toxicity of Silver Nanoparticles: A Recent Review

Title:Applications and Toxicity of Silver Nanoparticles: A Recent Review

Volume: 15 Issue: 16

Author(s): Stefania Marin, George Mihail Vlasceanu, Roxana Elena Tiplea, Ioana Raluca Bucur, Madalina Lemnaru, Maria Minodora Marin and Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu

Affiliation:

Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, Biomedical applications, Antimicrobials, Nanotherapeutics, Toxicity, Silver, Drug delivery, Drug targeting.

Abstract: Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) exhibit a consistent amount of flexible properties which endorse them for a larger spectrum of applications in biomedicine and related fields. Over the years, silver nanoparticles have been subjected to numerous in vitro and in vivo tests to provide information about their toxic behavior towards living tissues and organisms. Researchers showed that AgNPs have high antimicrobial efficacy against many bacteria species including Escherichia coli, Neisseria gonorrhea, Chlamydia trachomatis and also viruses. Due to their novel properties, the incorporation of silver nanoparticles into different materials like textile fibers and wound dressings can extend their utility on the biomedical field while inhibiting infections and biofilm development. Among the noble metal nanoparticles, AgNPs present a series of features like simple synthesis routes, adequate and tunable morphology, and high surface to volume ratio, intracellular delivery system, a large plasmon field area recommending them as ideal biosensors, catalysts or photo-controlled delivery systems. In bioengineering, silver nanoparticles are considered potentially ideal gene delivery systems for tissue regeneration. The remote triggered detection and release of bioactive compounds of silver nanoparticles has proved their relevance also in forensic sciences. The authors report an up to date review related to the toxicity of AgNPs and their applications in antimicrobial activity and biosensors for gene therapy.

Cite this article as:

Marin Stefania, Vlasceanu Mihail George, Tiplea Elena Roxana, Bucur Raluca Ioana, Lemnaru Madalina, Marin Minodora Maria and Grumezescu Mihai Alexandru, Applications and Toxicity of Silver Nanoparticles: A Recent Review, Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 2015; 15 (16) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026615666150414142209