Inhibition of E. coli and S. aureus with selenium nanoparticles synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in deionized water

Abstract

Nosocomial diseases are mainly caused by two common pathogens, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which are becoming more and more resistant to conventional antibiotics. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly necessary to find other alternative treatments than commonly utilized drugs. A promising strategy is to use nanomaterials such as selenium nanoparticles. However, the ability to produce nanoparticles free of any contamination is very challenging, especially for nano-medical applications. This paper reports the successful synthesis of pure selenium nanoparticles by laser ablation in water and determines the minimal concentration required for ~50% inhibition of either E. coli or S. aureus after 24 hours to be at least ~50 ppm. Total inhibition of E. coli and S. aureus is expected to occur at 107±12 and 79±4 ppm, respectively. In this manner, this study reports for the first time an easy synthesis process for creating pure selenium to inhibit bacterial growth.

Keywords:

• nosocomial disease
• bacteria
• antibiotics resistant
• cytotoxicity

Acknowledgments

The authors (GG and KLN) would like to acknowledge grant support from the Biomedical Research Grants Program of the San Antonio Area Foundation. The authors (EK and LCM) would like to acknowledge support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-15-1-0109). Brandy Vincent is greatly acknowledged for her help in conducting the cytotoxicity tests.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.