RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The emergence and expansion of antibiotic resistance makes it necessary to have alternative anti-infective agents, among which silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) display especially interesting properties. AgNPs carry out their antibacterial action through various molecular mechanisms, and the magnitude of the observed effect is dependent on multiple, not fully understood, aspects, particle shape being one of the most important. In this article, we conduct a study of the antibacterial effect of a recently described type of AgNP: silver nanorings (AgNRs), making comparisons with other alternative types of AgNP synthesized in parallel using the same methodology. RESULTS: When they act on planktonic forms, AgNRs produce a smaller effect on the viability of different bacteria than nanoparticles with other structures although their effect on growth is more intense over a longer period. When their action on biofilms is analyzed, AgNRs show a greater concentration-dependent effect. In both cases it was observed that the effect on inhibition depends on the microbial species, but not its Gram positive or negative nature. Growth patterns in silver-resistant Salmonella strains suggest that AgNRs work through different mechanisms to other AgNPs. The antibacterial effect is also produced to some extent by the conditioning of culture media or water by contact with AgNPs but, at least over short periods of time, this is not due to the release of Ag ions. CONCLUSIONS: AgNRs constitute a new type of AgNP, whose antibacterial properties depend on their shape, and is capable of acting efficiently on both planktonic bacteria and biofilms.