Acinetobacter baumannii is a well-known pathogen that causes both community-acquired infections and nosocomial infections, particularly pneumonia associated with the use of ventilators. Numerous virulence factors and strong genomic plasticity are reported to be present in this opportunistic pathogen, which help it succeed in the infectious process. We aimed to study the inhibition and anti-biofilm abilities of the green-synthesized silver nanoparticles against the strain. Silver nanoparticles were green synthesized using the extract from Piper nigrum. Together with SEM, NTA, FTIR, XRD, and UV spectral analysis, the production of AgNPs was fully described. According to SEM and NTA examination, the produced NPs were in the 30–60 nm range. AgNPs were functionalized with organics in the reaction mixture, as indicated by FTIR measurements. Strong antibacterial and antibiofilm properties against MDR Acinetobacter baumanii were demonstrated by green-produced AgNPs. AgNP-treated isolates exhibited elevated ROS generation and membrane permeability. Antibacterial resistance was demonstrated by passaging the isolates for 15 generations. The positive control showed resistance after 13 generations, whereas the AgNPs demonstrated remarkable antimicrobial susceptibility even after 14 generations. We found a significant downregulation of all biofilm gene members in the study compared to the positive control (P < 0.05). These results highlight the potential for designing AgNPs for targeted future biomedical applications.
Mahmood et al. (Sun,) studied this question.