Synergistic Antimicrobial Activity of Silver and Chitosan

This chapter covers the synergistic antimicrobial activity of silver and chitosan. The use of silver as an antimicrobial agent dates back to the 18th century when silver nitrate was used in the treatment of nonhealing ulcers. Several in vitro studies have shown that synergistic effects of such combinations are better than the antimicrobial activity of each component alone. Silver-chitosan nanocomposites can also be prepared by a one-pot method. The preparation, characterisation and antibacterial activity of a chitosan-g-poly-acrylonitrile/silver nanocomposite was described. The results presented in this work indicated that silver sulfadiazine (AgSD)-loaded chitosan/chondroitin sulfate films exhibited the potential to be applied as a wound dressing material. Chitosan and silver nanoparticles have proved their effectiveness by studies carried out in vivo. Wound dressings made from either hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose or chitosan glutamate (CS-glu) containing silver sulfadiazine encapsulated in solid lipid nanoparticles were investigated for applications in tissue repair.