Nanosilver: new ageless and versatile biomedical therapeutic scaffold

Abstract

Silver nanotechnology has received tremendous attention in recent years, owing to its wide range of applications in various fields and its intrinsic therapeutic properties. In this review, an attempt is made to critically evaluate the chemical, physical, and biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as well as their efficacy in the field of theranostics including microbiology and parasitology. Moreover, an outlook is also provided regarding the performance of AgNPs against different biological systems such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites (leishmanial and malarial parasites) in curing certain fatal human diseases, with a special focus on cancer. The mechanism of action of AgNPs in different biological systems still remains enigmatic. Here, due to limited available literature, we only focused on AgNPs mechanism in biological systems including human (wound healing and apoptosis), bacteria, and viruses which may open new windows for future research to ensure the versatile application of AgNPs in cosmetics, electronics, and medical fields.

Keywords:

• synthesis of AgNPs
• theranostics
• antimicrobial properties
• biomedical applications of AgNPs

Acknowledgments

The author S Ullah Khan has been supported by the Chinese Scholarship Council for his PhD study. TA Saleh would like to acknowledge the support and funding provided by King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) through Project No IN161011 and No IN131053 under the Deanship of Research. The authors also thank Dr Nawshad Muhammad and Usman Ali for their critical reading of the manuscript, and U Ali who did some artwork in the manuscript.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.