Silver nanoflowers coupled with low dose antibiotics enable the highly effective eradication of drug-resistant bacteria
Xin Li, Khan Zara Ahmad, Jie He, Hongxia Li, Xin Wang, Xin Wang, Zijian Feng, Xiansong Wang, Xiansong Wang, Guangxia Shen, Xianting Ding
Abstract
towards standard antibiotics such as norfloxacin and streptomycin. The doses of AgNFs and norfloxacin are reduced by 80% and 90%, respectively, in the combined treatment compared to those used individually. The dose reductions of AgNFs and streptomycin are 80% and 50% in the combined treatment of streptomycin and AgNFs. Through further analysis of the metabolomics and activities of bacteria, we speculate that the synergistic antibacterial efficacy between AgNFs and antibiotics could be explained by the enhanced respiration of bacteria and the up-regulation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, which in turn increase the release of reactive oxygen species and promote the uptake of antibiotics, thereby eventually eradicating the drug-resistant bacteria.