Abstract:

BACKGROUND: As a new type of inorganic antibacterial materials, nano-silver has strong antibacterial effect and safety on human body.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the structural properties, antimbacterial mechanisms, bio-safety, medical applications and further development of nano-silver, and to explore extensive and effective application of nano-silver materials.
METHODS: Articles about antibacterial mechanism and bio-safety of nanosilver were retrieved from PubMed database with the key words of “nanosilver; antibacteria; biofilm; bio-safety” from January 1997 to March 2010. articles related to antibacterial effect and bio-safety of nanosilver, as well as bacterial biofilm were included, those published in the authoritative journals or recently published were preferred in the same field. After primary screen, 123 articles were retrieved, 42 of them in accordance with inclusive criteria were included in the final analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The nano-silver materials are prone to contact with pathogenic microorganism due to quantum effect, small size effect and great specific surface area, therefore displaying more biologic effect and more disadvantages such as wide antibacterial range and long disinfection time. Further research on the broad-spectrum antibacterial mechanism of nanosilver would provide a theoretical and experimental basis for the development of safe, reliable, broad-spectrum antibacterial nano-materials and nano-drugs, can open up new ways of bacterial infection treatment prevention and treatment for the mankinds.