ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF NANOPARTICLES: AN ALTERNATE AGAINST DRUG-RESISTANT PATHOGENIC MICROBES

Ambash Riaz* and Shahid Raza

ABSTRACT

Antimicrobial agents, considered as miracle drugs, can be obtained from natural sources such as plant or animal or can be produce synthetically. They are used against various pathogens however, the misuse of these drugs has resulted in the development of drug resistance in pathogenic microbes, which is one of the biggest challenges in healthcare field and is a substantial global threat. Another concern that arises from this, is the spreading of the resistant organism. The alternative of conventional antimicrobial drugs is being studied and research. In the present situation, nanoparticles are considered as new and effective therapeutic agent. The exceptional physiochemical characteristics of nanoparticles with the addition of growth inhibitory capabilities against microorganisms led the increase in nanoparticle studies and their effective antimicrobial applications. In the past, silver was used as therapeutic agent to treats chronic wounds and burns moreover, copper was used for water cleaning. It is much apparent that many of the metallic compounds have antimicrobial characteristic. Present days, the convergence of biology and nanotechnology has taken metal in the form of nanoparticles as an effective agent as many microorganisms. Nanoparticles have unique and well organized chemical and physical characteristics that can be altered according to the situation. In addition to that, potential antimicrobial efficiency because of their large surface area to volume ratio has given them an upper hand over chemical antimicrobial agents which is now having problem of drug resistance in microorganisms.

Keywords: Nanoparticles, antimicrobial, resistant organisms.