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Review
. 2024 Oct 10;14(20):1618.
doi: 10.3390/nano14201618.

Silver Nanoparticles in Therapeutics and Beyond: A Review of Mechanism Insights and Applications

Furkan Eker  1 , Hatice Duman  1 , Emir Akdaşçi  1 , Anna Maria Witkowska  2 , Mikhael Bechelany  3   4 , Sercan Karav  1
Affiliations
Review

Silver Nanoparticles in Therapeutics and Beyond: A Review of Mechanism Insights and Applications

Furkan Eker et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) have become highly promising agents in the field of biomedical science, offering wide therapeutic potential due to their unique physicochemical properties. The unique characteristics of silver NPs, such as their higher surface-area-to-volume ratio, make them ideal for a variety of biological applications. They are easily processed thanks to their large surface area, strong surface plasmon resonance (SPR), stable nature, and multifunctionality. With an emphasis on the mechanisms of action, efficacy, and prospective advantages of silver NPs, this review attempts to give a thorough overview of the numerous biological applications of these particles. The utilization of silver NPs in diagnostics, such as bioimaging and biosensing, as well as their functions in therapeutic interventions such as antimicrobial therapies, cancer therapy, diabetes treatment, bone repair, and wound healing, are investigated. The underlying processes by which silver NPs exercise their effects, such as oxidative stress induction, apoptosis, and microbial cell membrane rupture, are explored. Furthermore, toxicological concerns and regulatory issues are discussed, as well as the present difficulties and restrictions related to the application of silver NPs in medicine.

Keywords: antimicrobial and anticancer activity; bioimaging and biosensor; biomedical applications; bone healing and wound repair activity; dental applications; diabetes; silver nanoparticles; toxicity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 5
Figure 5
Agricultural applications of silver NPs. (1) Silver NPs can be used as nanopesticides for pesticidal activity. (2) Silver NPs can be incorporated into food packages to preserve and increase the shelf life of foods. (3) Silver NP-based fertilizers can enhance the characteristics of plants [125].
Figure 10
Figure 10
Toxicity mechanisms of silver NPs [211].
Figure 1
Figure 1
Applications of silver NPs that are covered in this review [10,11].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graph representing the published research papers that include “Silver Nanoparticles” in their title between 2020 and 2024, with a pie chart representing the distribution of these studies based on the discussed applications [12].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Antibacterial mechanisms of silver NPs [86].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Antiviral mechanisms of silver NPs [108].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Bone healing and wound repair activity of silver NPs. (1) Silver NPs enhance bone defect repair progress and can be included in bone scaffolds. (2) Silver NPs enhance the repair of chronic and diabetic wounds. They also possess antibacterial and antibiofilm activities during wound healing [47,135].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Usage of silver NPs as vaccine adjuvant for viral infections [147].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Antidiabetic activity of silver NPs [150].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Anticancer mechanism of silver NPs [167,174].
Figure 11
Figure 11
Graph representing the published patents that include the term “Silver Nanoparticles” in their title between 2019 and 2024 [214].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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