Detection and qualification of optimum antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of silver-doped bioactive glasses

This study aims to detect the optimum antibacterial activity of silver-doped bioactive glasses (Ag-BGs) for prevention of post-transplant infections in tissue engineering. The results have shown that the Ag-BG samples had broad-spectrum antibacterial efficacy in an Ag concentration-dependent manner. The 2% Ag-BG had the highest effect during the first 10 min to 72 h. The minimum inhibitory concentration of 2% Ag-BG was estimated to be 2 mg/ml for Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and 2.66 mg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). A concentration of 0.5% Ag-BG repressed growth of E. coli after 1 h, but did not have any detectable antibacterial effect for longer periods. Evaluation of the effects of prepared Ag-BG on human osteoblast cells viability showed that 1 and 2% samples changed the cell proliferation rate in masses of more than 3.33 and 2 mg/ml, respectively. Moreover, in a typical manner, the release of Ag ions from the glass structure started immediately, continued steadily and affected bacterial growth when it reached its critical concentration in the medium. This systematic study can illustrate the optimum antibacterial property of the Ag-BG samples in masses of 3.33 and 2 mg/ml for 1 and 2% Ag, respectively, for prevention of post-transplant infections.