The use of functionalized nanoparticles to treat Staphylococcus aureus-based surgical-site infections: a systematic review.

Staphylococcus aureus-based surgical site infections have become the leading cause of failure for total joint arthroplasty operations and remain a major issue across surgical specialties. Moreover, S. aureus-based infections are becoming drastically more difficult to treat due to the development of antibiotic resistant strains and due to the bacteria ' s propensity to produce biofilms. The emergence of highly resistant S. aureus infections has created the need for a novel antimicrobial treatment. Functionalized nanoparticles have recently been suggested as being a viable option to fill this void due to their strong antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties. However, said research remains a novel and developing field. The presented systematic review aimed to synthesize the best and most recent evidence available to accurately direct new research towards a viable treatment mechanism. In doing so, the authors performed a comprehensive literature search as directed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The results showed that nanoparticles-particularly those including an iron-oxide component or acidic capping agent-are a viable treatment for S. aureus infections both in vivo and in vitro, and show even greater efficacy when combined with exposure to a magnetic field and irradiation.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news