Purpose: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are pathogens that have emerged as a serious public health risk. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop a new generation of anti-bacterial materials to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Methods: Nanosilver-decorated mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (Ag-MONs) were fabricated for co-delivery of gentamicin (GEN) and nanosilver. After investigating the glutathione (GSH)-responsive matrix degradation and controlled release of both GEN and silver ions, the anti-bacterial activities of Ag-MONs@GEN were systematically determined against several antibiotic-susceptible and antibiotic-resistant bacteria including Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis . Furthermore, the cytotoxic profiles of Ag-MONs@GEN were evaluated.
Results: The GEN-loaded nanoplatform (Ag-MONs@GEN) showed glutathione-responsive matrix degradation, resulting in the simultaneous controlled release of GEN and silver ions. Ag-MONs@GEN exhibited excellent anti-bacterial activities than Ag-MONs and GEN alone via inducing ROS generation, especially enhancing synergetic effects against four antibiotic-resistant bacteria including Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus , and Enterococcus faecalis . Moreover, the IC₅₀ values of Ag-MONs@GEN in L929 and HUVECs cells were 313.6 ± 15.9 and 295.7 ± 12.3 μg/mL, respectively, which were much higher than their corresponding minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values.
Conclusion: Our study advanced the development of Ag-MONs@GEN for the synergistic and safe treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Keywords: mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles, nanosilver, gentamicin, GSH-responsive release, antibiotics-resistant bacteria