Exploring the potential of eco-friendly silver nanoparticles to inhibit azole-resistant clinical isolates of Candida spp.

Abstract

The antimicrobial activity and biological efficiency of silver nanoparticles (AgNps) have been widely described and can be modeled through stabilizing and reducing agents, especially if they exhibit biocidal properties, which can enhance bioactivity against pathogens. The selective action of AgNps remains a major concern. In this regard, the use of plant extracts for the green synthesis of nanoparticles offers advantages because it improves the toxicity of Nps for microorganisms and is harmless to normal cells. However, biological evaluations of the activity of AgNps synthesized using different reducing agents are determined independently, and comparisons are frequently overlooked. Thus, we investigated and compared the antifungal and cytotoxic effects of two ecological AgNps synthesized from Moringa oleifera aqueous leaf extract (AgNp-M) and glucose (AgNp-G) against azole-resistant clinical isolates of Candida spp. and nontumor mammalian cells. Synthesized AgNps exhibited an antifungal effect on planktonic cells of drug-resistant C. albicans and C. tropicalis (MIC 0.21–52.6 µg/mL). The toxicity was influenced by size. However, the use of M. oleifera extracts allows us to obtain AgNps that are highly selective and nongenotoxic to Vero cells due to modifications of the shape and surface. Therefore, these results suggest that AgNp-M has antimicrobial potential and deserves further investigation for biomedical applications.

Keywords:

• Moringa oleifera
• silver nanoparticles
• vegetal extracts
• green synthesis
• Candida spp.
• cytotoxicity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to sincerely thank the Chemical Engineering School of the Universidad Industrial de Santander for FTIR analysis and Corporación para Investigaciones Biológicas (CIB), Medellin, Colombia for permission to study resistant strains.

Data Availability

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4qqjwubetbrxk1k/Paper%20JESH%20231212.docx?dl=0

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Zumotecnología ZUMOTEC S. and Universidad de Santander under Grant CIF 03-20.