Aims

Silver nanoparticles exhibit unique antibacterial properties that make these ideal candidates for biological and medical applications. We utilized a clean method involving a single synthetic step to prepare silver nanoparticles that exhibit antimicrobial activity.

Materials & methods

These nanoparticles were prepared by reducing silver nitrate with diaminopyridinylated heparin (DAPHP) and hyaluronan (HA) polysaccharides and tested for their efficacy in inhibiting microbial growth.

Results & discussion

The resulting silver nanoparticles exhibit potent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and modest activity against Escherichia coli. Silver–HA showed greater antimicrobial activity than silver–DAPHP, while silver–glucose nanoparticles exhibited very weak antimicrobial activity. Neither HA nor DAPHP showed activity against S. aureus or E. coli.

Conclusion

These results suggest that DAPHP and HA silver nanoparticles have potential in antimicrobial therapeutic applications.

Metal nanoparticles have been studied for their anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory efficacy in various models. Specifically, gold and silver nanoparticles exhibit properties that make these ideal candidates for biological applications. The typical synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles incorporates contaminants that could pose further problems. Here we demonstrate a clean method of synthesizing gold and silver nanoparticles that exhibit biological functions. These nanoparticles were prepared by reducing AuCl4 and AgNO3 using heparin and hyaluronan, as both reducing and stabilizing agents. The particles show stability under physiological conditions, and narrow size distributions for heparin particles and wider distribution for hyaluronan particles. Studies show that the heparin nanoparticles exhibit anticoagulant properties. Additionally, either gold- or silver- heparin nanoparticles exhibit local anti-inflammatory properties without any significant effect on systemic hemostasis upon administration in carrageenan-induced paw edema models. In conclusion, gold and silver nanoparticles complexed with heparin demonstrated effective anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory efficacy, having potential in various local applications.