Amphotericin B-silver hybrid nanoparticles: synthesis, properties and antifungal activity

High antifungal activity is reported, in comparisonwith commercially available products, of a novel hybrid systembased on silver nanoparticles synthesized using a popular antifungal macrocyclic polyene amphotericin B (AmB) acting both as a reducing and stabilizing/capping agent. The synthesis reaction proceeds in an alkaline environment which prevents aggregation of AmB itself and promotes nanoparticle formation. The innovative approach produces monodisperse (PDI = 0.05), AmB-coated silver nanoparticles (AmB-AgNPs) with the diameter similar to 7 nm. The products were characterized using imaging (electron microscopy) and spectroscopic (UV-vis and infrared absorption, dynamic light scattering and Raman scattering) methods. The nanoparticles were tested against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Fusarium culmorum species. For cytotoxicity studies CCD-841CoTr and THP-1 cell lineswere used. Particularly high antifungal activity ofAmB-AgNPs is interpreted as the result of synergy between the antifungal activity of amphotericin B and silver antimicrobial properties (Ag+ ions release). From the Clinical Editor: Amphotericin B (AmB) is a common agent used for the treatment against severe fungal infections. In this article, the authors described a new approach in using a combination of AmB and silver nanoparticles, in which the silver nanoparticles were synthesized and stabilized by AmB. Experimental data confirmed synergistic antifungal effects between amphotericin B and silver. This novel synthesis process could potentially be important in future drug development and fabrication. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.