Research

Antimicrobial effect of silver-impregnated cellulose: potential for antimicrobial therapy

Juyoung Kim^2* , Soonjo Kwon^1* and Erik Ostler¹

¹  Department of Biological Engineering, Utah State University, 4105 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA

²  Ag Biotech LLC, 1704 Cordell Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32303, USA

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

Journal of Biological Engineering 2009, 3:20doi:10.1186/1754-1611-3-20

Published:	4 December 2009

Abstract

Background

Silver has long been known to have antimicrobial activity. To incorporate this property into multiple applications, a silver-impregnated cellulose (SIC) with low cytotoxicity to human cells was developed. SIC differs from other silver treatment methods in that the leaching of silver particles is non-existent and the release of ionic silver is highly controlled.

Results

Candida albicans, Micrococcus luteu, Pseudomonas putida, and Escherichia coli were used for antimicrobial testing. No microbial cells were able to grow in the presence of SIC at concentrations above 0.0035 Ag w/v %. Even at a concentration of 0.00035 Ag w/v %, P. putida and M. luteu failed to grow, and C. albicans and E. coli exhibited diminished growth. To determine the cytotoxic effect of silver on human cells, five different concentrations of SIC were tested on human fibroblasts. In SIC concentrations of 0.035 Ag w/v % and below, no cytotoxicity was observed.

Conclusion

The optimal concentration of SIC for a broad range of anti-microbial activity and low or negligible cytotoxicity was 0.0035 Ag w/v %. Although the highly controlled releasing characteristics of SIC would prove a substantial improvement over current technologies, further investigation for genotoxicity and other biocompatibility test will be required.