Biopolymers from Composted Biowaste as Stabilizers for the Synthesis of Spherical and Homogeneously Sized Silver Nanoparticles for Textile Applications on Natural Fibers.

The use of bio-based substances (BBS) obtained from composted biowaste as stabilizers for the production of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in substitution to citrate is investigated herein, evaluating the functionalization of natural fibers for textile antibacterial applications. The results obtained evidenced that BBS can substitute citrate as reducing/stabilizing agent in the synthesis, inducing a geometrical control (in shape and size) of the AgNPs. Two different substrates were selected (wool and cotton) and two dip-coating deposition techniques investigated. The release of AgNPs from the supports in water was evaluated under two different experimental conditions: 1) soaking (static conditions) for 7 and 15 days, simulating the contact with sweat, and 2) centrifugation (dynamic conditions), simulating a washing machine treatment. A wide physicochemical characterization was carried out to evaluate the effects of BBS on the morphology and stability of AgNPs suspensions as well as the functionalization effectiveness.

Bacterial cellulose production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus by employing alternative culture media.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is used in different fields as a biological material due to its unique properties. Despite there being many BC applications, there still remain many problems associated with bioprocess technology, such as increasing productivity and decreasing production cost. New technologies that use waste from the food industry as raw materials for culture media promote economic advantages because they reduce environmental pollution and stimulate new research for science sustainability. For this reason, BC production requires optimized conditions to increase its application. The main objective of this study was to evaluate BC production by Gluconacetobacter xylinus using industry waste, namely, rotten fruits and milk whey, as culture media. Furthermore, the structure of BC produced at different conditions was also determined. The culture media employed in this study were composed of rotten fruit collected from the disposal of free markets, milk whey from a local industrial disposal, and their combination, and Hestrin and Schramm media was used as standard culture media. Although all culture media studied produced BC, the highest BC yield-60 mg/mL-was achieved with the rotten fruit culture. Thus, the results showed that rotten fruit can be used for BC production. This culture media can be considered as a profitable alternative to generate high-value products. In addition, it combines environmental concern with sustainable processes that can promote also the reduction of production cost.

Comparison of methods to detect the in vitro activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) against multidrug resistant bacteria.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug resistant microorganisms are a growing challenge and new substances that can be useful to treat infections due to these microorganisms are needed. Silver nanoparticle may be a future option for treatment of these infections, however, the methods described in vitro to evaluate the inhibitory effect are controversial. RESULTS: This study evaluated the in vitro activity of silver nanoparticles against 36 susceptible and 54 multidrug resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria from clinical sources. The multidrug resistant bacteria were oxacilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp., carbapenem- and polymyxin B-resistant A. baumannii, carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. We analyzed silver nanoparticles stabilized with citrate, chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol and commercial silver nanoparticle. Silver sulfadiazine and silver nitrate were used as control. Different methods were used: agar diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum bactericidal concentration and time-kill. The activity of AgNPs using diffusion in solid media and the MIC methods showed similar effect against MDR and antimicrobial-susceptible isolates, with a higher effect against Gram-negative isolates. The better results were achieved with citrate and chitosan silver nanoparticle, both with MIC90 of 6.75 µg mL(-1), which can be due the lower stability of these particles and, consequently, release of Ag(+) ions as revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The bactericidal effect was higher against antimicrobial-susceptible bacteria. CONCLUSION: It seems that agar diffusion method can be used as screening test, minimum inhibitory concentration/minimum bactericidal concentration and time kill showed to be useful methods. The activity of commercial silver nanoparticle and silver controls did not exceed the activity of the citrate and chitosan silver nanoparticles. The in vitro inhibitory effect was stronger against Gram-negative than Gram-positive, and similar against multidrug resistant and susceptible bacteria, with best result achieved using citrate and chitosan silver nanoparticles. The bactericidal effect of silver nanoparticle may, in the future, be translated into important therapeutic and clinical options, especially considering the shortage of new antimicrobials against the emerging antimicrobial resistant microorganisms, in particular against Gram-negative bacteria.

Diesel exhaust particulates affect cell signaling, mucin profiles, and apoptosis in trachea explants of Balb/C mice.

Particulate matter from diesel exhaust (DEP) has toxic properties and can activate intracellular signaling pathways and induce metabolic changes. This study was conducted to evaluate the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and to analyze the mucin profile (acid (AB(+) ), neutral (PAS(+) ), or mixed (AB/PAS(+) ) mucus) and vacuolization (V) of tracheal explants after treatment with 50 or 100 µg/mL DEP for 30 or 60 min. Western blot analyses showed small increases in ERK1/2 and JNK phosphorylation after 30 min of 100 µg/mL DEP treatment compared with the control. An increase in JNK phosphorylation was observed after 60 min of treatment with 50 µg/mL DEP compared with the control. We did not observe any change in the level of ERK1/2 phosphorylation after treatment with 50 µg/mL DEP. Other groups of tracheas were subjected to histological sectioning and stained with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) reagent and Alcian Blue (AB). The stained tissue sections were then subjected to morphometric analysis. The results obtained were compared using ANOVA. Treatment with 50 µg/mL DEP for 30 min or 60 min showed a significant increase (p < 0.001) in the amount of acid mucus, a reduction in neutral mucus, a significant reduction in mixed mucus, and greater vacuolization. Our results suggest that compounds found in DEPs are able to activate acid mucus production and enhance vacuolization and cell signaling pathways, which can lead to airway diseases.

Water recovery from saline streams produced by electrodialysis.

Advances in technologies to enable water reuse in industry have been the objective of many research efforts, mainly due to the need to reduce the use of natural resources and due to factors related to their availability. This paper evaluates the crystallization of salts from petrochemical saline waste to achieve zero water discharge by the recovery of water and dissolved salts as a solid mixture. In line with process symbiosis, the recovered water should be suitable for use as cooling water in heat exchangers. Vacuum evaporative crystallization, at the batch scale, was used to remove the salts present in the concentrated stream from reverse electrodialysis of pretreated wastewater by a biological process. The partition of organic compounds in the feed solution between the condensate and the mother liquor was obtained from measurements of the total organic carbon and total nitrogen in the solutions. The solid phases formed experimentally are compared with those predicted by chemical modelling by PHREEQC. The recovered water presented almost 50 times less total dissolved solids than the feed stream (from 2100 to 44 mg/L). Calcium sulphate hydrate, calcium sulphate and sodium chloride were the majority crystalline phases formed, in accordance with the modelling by PHREEQC.

Antimicrobial effectiveness of silver nanoparticles co-stabilized by the bioactive copolymer pluronic F68.

BACKGROUND: Silver nanoparticles (AgNps) have attracted much interest in biomedical engineering, since they have excellent antimicrobial properties. Therefore, AgNps have often been considered for incorporation into medical products for skin pathologies to reduce the risk of contamination. This study aims at evaluating the antimicrobial effectiveness of AgNps stabilized by pluronic™ F68 associated with other polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). METHODS: AgNps antimicrobial activity was evaluated using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method. The action spectrum was evaluated for different polymers associated with pluronic™ F68 against the gram negative bacteria P. aeuroginosa and E. coli and the gram positive bacteria S. Aureus. RESULTS: AgNps stabilized with PVP or PVA and co-stabilized with pluronic™ F68 are effective against E. coli and P. aeruginosa microorganisms, with MIC values as low as 0.78% of the concentration of the original AgNps dispersion. The antimicrobial action against S. aureus is poor, with MIC values not lower than 25%. CONCLUSIONS: AgNps stabilized by different polymeric systems have shown improved antimicrobial activity against gram-negative microorganisms in comparison to unstabilized AgNps. Co-stabilization with the bioactive copolymer pluronic™ F68 has further enhanced the antimicrobial effectiveness against both microorganisms. A poor effectiveness has been found against the gram-positive S. aureus microorganism. Future assays are being delineated targeting possible therapeutic applications.

Production, stabilisation and characterisation of silver nanoparticles coated with bioactive polymers pluronic F68, PVP and PVA.

The increasing and alarming panorama of bacterial infections and associated morbidities that occur during medical and hospital procedures makes the development of technologies that aid in controlling such bacterial infections of utmost importance. Recent studies have shown that formulations with metal nanoparticles exhibit good antibacterial properties against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. Moreover, it was demonstrated that some biologically active polymeric materials, when applied in combination with chemical antimicrobial agents, enhance the therapeutic action of the latter. The research effort entertained herein aimed at the physico-chemical characterisation of silver nanoparticles obtained by chemical reduction, stabilised by bioactive polymers polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinylpyrrolidone, and further co-stabilised by pluronic F68. Scanning electron microscopy images of the nanoparticles produced, coated with different stabilisers, have shown that the chemical nature of the stabilisation effect promoted incorporation of pluronic in the nanoparticles and was closely related to an increase in the silver concentration in the nanoparticle samples obtained via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The study described herein also shows that the nature of the stabiliser favours the interaction of pluronic F68 with samples containing silver nanoparticles.

Comparative antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles synthesised by biological and chemical routes with pluronic F68 as a stabilising agent.

The authors report the comparative antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles synthesised by biological (using Fusarium oxysporum) and chemical routes in the presence and absence of pluronic F68 as a stabilising agent. The production of silver nanoparticles was evidenced by UV-visible spectra, with absorbance at about 420 nm in the case of both biological and chemical synthesis. X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the presence of face-centred cubic structure (FCC plane). The nanoparticles characterised by transmission and scanning electron microscopy showed spherical silver nanoparticles with size range of 5-40 and 10-70 nm in the case of biologically and chemically synthesised nanoparticles, respectively. Addition of pluronic F68 showed the stabilisation of silver nanoparticles. Antibacterial efficacy of silver nanoparticles demonstrated different inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Overall, biologically synthesised silver nanoparticles showed higher activity as compared with chemically synthesised nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles synthesised in the presence of pluronic F68 by the chemical route exhibited synergism in antibacterial activity as compared with those synthesised without pluronic F68. On the contrary, biogenic silver nanoparticles without pluronic F68 showed higher antibacterial potential.

Silver nanoparticles: therapeutical uses, toxicity, and safety issues.

The promises of nanotechnology have been realized to deliver the greatest scientific and technological advances in several areas. The biocidal activity of Metal nanoparticles in general and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) depends on several morphological and physicochemical characteristics of the particles. Many of the interactions of the AgNPs with the human body are still poorly understood; consequently, the most desirable characteristics for the AgNPs are not yet well established. Therefore, the development of nanoparticles with well-controlled morphological and physicochemical features for application in human body is still an active area of interdisciplinary research. Effects of the development of technology of nanostructured compounds seem to be so large and comprehensive that probably it will impact on all fields of science and technology. However, mechanisms of safety control in application, utilization, responsiveness, and disposal accumulation still need to be further studied in-depth to ensure that the advances provided by nanotechnology are real and liable to provide solid and consistent progress. This review aims to discuss AgNPs applied in biomedicine and as promising field for insertion and development of new compounds related to medical and pharmacy technology. The review also addresses drug delivery, toxicity issues, and the safety rules concerning biomedical applications of silver nanoparticles.