Silver! Olomouc Scientists Proved That It Enhances the Effects of Antibiotics
Milan Kolář and Aleš Panáček
An important step towards solving a huge medical problem, the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, has been made by scientists of the Faculties of Medicine and Science. They have proved that the efficiency of antibiotics may be enhanced by adding a silver compound; alternatively even silver microparticles or nanoparticles.
Excessive use of antibiotics in medicine was typical mainly from the 1960 to the 1980s. “Many bacterial strains became resistant to antibiotic treatments, and the suppression of bacterial infections often requires substantially higher doses of antibiotics and their combinations. This involves a number of adverse effects, including drug interaction,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and a microbiologist, Milan Kolář, explaining the reasons for conducting a several-year-long research, in which he has participated himself.
This invention from Olomouc, whose process has been applied for a patent at the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic, is essentially a preparation containing a mixture of antibiotics and silver in the from of nanoparticles or a suitable compound. The main contribution is in the fact that antibiotics with the addition of silver show an antibacterial effect even on bacteria upon which the antibiotics without the silver supplement were not effective or only partially effective. The effect may also be observed with significantly lower concentrations of antibiotics.
Antibacterial properties of silver known since ancient times
“The antibacterial properties of silver have been known for centuries. The ancient Romans used silver utensils or threw silver coins into milk so that it stayed fresh longer. The current popularity of nanoparticles made us focus on the utilisation of silver nanoparticles in biological applications. So we began to study their antibacterial activity in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine,” said Aleš Panáček from the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Faculty of Science and from the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, in regard to the initiation of the research.
The scientists had first confirmed the antibacterial activity of silver. Their work, published in 2006 in The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, was one of the first works of its kind, was positively acknowledged in the scientific community, and has been cited in hundreds of texts. Consequently, the issue of resistance of bacteria to antibiotic treatment came into question and has been investigated by Olomouc scientists in the last three years. “It occurred to us that nanoparticles may be added to antibiotics. Then we managed to prove that silver nanoparticles highly enhance the effect of antibiotics upon bacteria. This application of silver may result in administration of lower doses of antibiotics in medical practice, thus decreasing the risk of side effects. Perhaps even more important is the finding that silver nanoparticles renew the effect of antibiotics on resistant bacteria,” said Panáček.
A number of clinical trials required
Silver nanoparticles have not been used yet in the treatment of bacterial infections. In order to become ingredients in drugs in the future, a number of clinical trials are required, and they are very expensive. According to Prof. Kolář, this principle has been confirmed in laboratory conditions. “Its efficacy has also been demonstrated in topical application in the form of ointment and hydrogels. Most recently, the research has proceeded to animal testing,” added Prof. Kolář.
The combination of antibiotics and silver nanoparticles had been investigated by other scientific teams as well. “They had never achieved as significant results as we have, that is, such a high antibacterial activity at such a low concentration of both silver nanoparticles and antibiotic. This has been possible since, due to the fusion of scientific teams from the fields of nanomaterials and microbiological research, we have unique methods for the preparation of silver nanoparticles and also highly reliable methods of testing the antibacterial activity. Therefore our teams have excelled in the research regarding the recovery of the sensitivity of bacteria still resistant to antibiotics,” noted Panáček.
The latest results should be soon made available in scientific publications. Antibiotic preparations in combination with silver may be applied in human medicine as well as in veterinary medicine, sanitary equipment and materials, and cosmetics.
