Carbohydrate-Coated Gold-Silver Nanoparticles for Efficient Elimination of Multidrug Resistant Bacteria and in Vivo Wound Healing (vol 11, pg 42998, 2019)

Multi drug resistant (MDR) bacteria have emerged as a major clinical challenge. The unavailability of effective antibiotics has necessitated the use of emerging nanoparticles as alternatives. In this work, we have developed carbohydrate-coated bimetallic nanoparticles (Au-Ag-NP, 30-40nm diameter) that are non-toxic towards mammalian cells yet highly effective against MDR strains as compared to their monometallic counterparts (Ag-NP, Au-NP). The Au-AgNP is much more effective against gram negative MDR Escherichia coli and Enterobacter cloacae when compared to most of the potent antibiotics. We demonstrate that in vivo, Au-AgNP is at least 11000 times more effective than Gentamicin in eliminating MDR Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infecting mice skin wounds. Au-AgNP is able to heal and regenerate infected wounds faster and in scar-free manner. In vivo results show that this Au-AgNP is very effective anti-bacterial agent against MDR strains and does not produce adverse toxicity. We conclude that this bimetallic nanoparticle can be safe in complete skin regeneration in bacteria infected wounds.