Figure 1.
The effect of silver nitrate on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus MSSA476 in different media.
AgNO3 was added to growth media at the indicated concentrations (µmol dm−3) in (A) LB; (B) LB + 50 mg/mL HSA; (C) LB + 50% human serum (v/v); (D) LB + 1 mmol dm−3 GSH. GSH, reduced glutathione; HSA, human serum albumin (the major blood protein). Error bars = SD, n = 3.
Figure 2.
The effect of silver nitrate on the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 in different media.
AgNO3 was added to growth media at the indicated concentrations (µmol dm−3) in (A) LB; (B) LB + 50 mg/mL HSA; (C) LB + 50% human serum (v/v); (D) LB + 1 mmol dm−3 GSH. GSH, reduced glutathione; HSA, human serum albumin (the major blood protein). Error bars = SD, n = 3.
Table 1.
The effect of biologically relevant compounds on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and cytotoxic concentration (CC50) of silver nitrate to bacteria and human cells.
Figure 3.
Photochemical reduction of Ag+ in LB medium.
AgNO3 was added to (A) LB and (B) LB + 1 mmol dm3 GSH at (i) 0 mmol dm3, (ii) 0.75 mmol dm3, (iii) 1.0 mmol dm3, (iv) 1.25 mmol dm3. GSH, reduced glutathione.
Table 2.
The effect of biologically relevant compounds on the antimicrobial efficacy of Aquacel-Ag (Convatec) wound dressings.
Table 3.
The effect of biologically relevant compounds on the antimicrobial efficacy of Acticoat (Smith & Nephew) wound dressings.
Figure 4.
Micrographs of primary adult human dermal fibroblasts exposed to silver nitrate.
Cells were exposed to AgNO3 at the indicated concentration for 24 hr: (A) 0 µmol dm−3 AgNO3; (B) 10 µmol dm−3 AgNO3; (C) 25 µmol dm−3 AgNO3; (D) 750 µmol dm−3 AgNO3 + 1 mmol dm−3 GSH; (E) 1 mmol dm−3 AgNO3 + 1 mmol dm−3 GSH. Images were captured for the same cells stained with i) NucBlue (Hoechst 33347), which stains all cell nuclei and ii) Propidium iodide, which stains nuclei of dead cells; (iii) Light microscope images show changes in cell morphology. GSH, reduced glutathione. Scale bar = 200 µm
Figure 5.
The cytotoxicity of silver nitrate to human skin cells.
Viability of primary adult human dermal fibroblasts exposed to AgNO3 for 4 h or 24 h in (A) Medium 106; (B) Medium 106+1 mmol dm−3 GSH. Sigmoidal curves were fitted using the Boltzman function in OriginPro8 (OriginLab). Error bars = SEM, n = 4. GSH, reduced glutathione.
Figure 6.
Nuclear condensation in human skin cells exposed to the minimum cytotoxic concentration of silver nitrate.
Primary adult human dermal fibroblasts were exposed to 20 µmol dm−3 AgNO3 for 4 hr. Images were captured for the same cells: (A) Light microscope image shows cellular morphology; (B) stained with NucBlue (Hoechst 33347), which stains all cell nuclei; (C) stained with propidium iodide, which stains nuclei of dead cells (NB. areas of nuclear condensation are indicative of apoptosis); (D) Composite image of A, B and C. GSH, reduced glutathione. Scale bar = 50 µm.