Silver-Containing Titanium Dioxide Nanocapsules for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

• Published in: International journal of nanomedicine Vol. 15; pp. 1267 - 1281
• Main Authors: Hérault, Nelly, Wagner, Julia, Abram, Sarah-Luise, Widmer, Jérôme, Horvath, Lenke, Vanhecke, Dimitri, Bourquin, Carole, Fromm, Katharina M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01-02-2020; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibacterial agents; antimicrobial effect; Arthroplasty; Bacteria; Coated Materials, Biocompatible - chemistry; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial - drug effects; Electron microscopy; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Enzymes; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Health aspects; immune cell uptake; Immune system; Infection; Macrophages; Macrophages - drug effects; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microbial drug resistance; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microscopy; Morbidity; multidrug-resistant s. aureus; Nanocapsules - chemistry; Nanocapsules - therapeutic use; Nanoparticles; Original Research; Orthopedic surgery; Povidone; Prostheses and implants; Silver; Silver - chemistry; Silver - pharmacokinetics; silver nanoparticles; Spectroscopy; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Titanium - chemistry; Titanium dioxide; titanium oxide nanocapsules; antimicrobial effect; multidrug-resistant S. aureus; titanium dioxide nanocapsules; silver nanoparticles; immune cell uptake
• ISSN: 1178-2013; 1176-9114; 1178-2013
• DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S231949

Joint arthroplasty has improved the quality of life of patients worldwide, but infections of the prosthesis are frequent and cause significant morbidity. Antimicrobial coatings for implants promise to prevent these infections.
We have synthesized nanocapsules of titanium dioxide in amorphous or anatase form containing silver as antibacterial agent and tested their impact on bacterial growth. Furthermore, we explored the possible effect of the nanocapsules on the immune system. First, we studied their uptake into macrophages using a combination of electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Second, we exposed immune cells to the nanocapsules and checked their activation state by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Silver-containing titanium dioxide nanocapsules show strong antimicrobial activity against both
and
and even against a multidrug-resistant strain of
. We could demonstrate the presence of the nanocapsules in macrophages, but, importantly, the nanocapsules did not affect cell viability and did not activate proinflammatory responses at doses up to 20 μg/mL.
Our bactericidal silver-containing titanium dioxide nanocapsules fulfill important prerequisites for biomedical use and represent a promising material for the coating of artificial implants.