The $!LVER hero

The silver hero!!!

SILVER...instantly remains us of  Ornaments , jewels, and a lots more . But what if this  metal  acts as a villan to microbes  and a hero to us. lets see the  reason behind this wonderful hero.....

Thousands of years before the discovery of microbes or the invention of antibiotics, silver was used to protect wounds from infection and to preserve food and water. The alluring metal which was fashioned into a multitude of curative coins, sutures, foils, cups and solutions all but vanished from medical use once physicians began using anti-bacterial drug agents to fight sickness in the 1940s.But now, as bacteria grow increasingly resistant to these medications and new pathogens invade hospitals, some doctors are turning once again to the lustrous element that Hippocrates prescribed for patients in ancient Greece.

The silver contains a strong antimicrobial  properties which uses many chemical processes to stop  bacteria from forming bonds, slow their metabolic rate and disrupt homeostasis. This makes the bacteria more susceptible to the power of antibiotics making it weaker. A powerful germicidal, silver is an exceptional metal in that it is non-toxic to the human body, but lethal to over 650 disease causing bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and molds; while conventional pharmaceutical antibiotics are typically effective against only 6 or 7 types of bacteria. Some new strains of bacteria classified as MDR (Multiple Drug Resistant) have proven to be resistant to all pharmaceutical antibiotics, but not to colloidal silver due to different germicidal mechanisms of deactivation.  

How does the hero attack the microbes??

The silver in the form of dissolved ions makes the cell membrane more permeable and interferes with the cell’s metabolism leading to the overproduction of reactive, and often toxic, oxygen compounds. Both the mechanisms could potentially be harnessed to make today’s antibiotics more effective against resistant bacteria. The three mechanisms of deactivation that silver utilizes to incapacitate disease causing organisms are Catalytic Oxidation, Reaction with Cell Membranes, and Binding with the DNA of disease organisms to prevent unwinding. 

1.Catalytic Oxidation: Silver catalyses the oxidation reaction by absorbing oxygen on its surface and readily react with the sulfhydryl(-S-H) groups surrounding the surface of the bacteria and convert them to (R-S-S-R Bond) by removing the hydrogen .This makes the bacteria to expire by blocking the respiration.it can also react with any negative charge presented by the organisms transport or membrane proteins and deactivate them. Researchers have found that the silver compound made the bacteria  to produce more reactive oxygen species(ROS), chemicals that all  living cells make as a byproduct of metabolism. ROS plays an important role in helping cells carry out normal function. But in excess, they can damage proteins and DNA and also the cell membrane to become leaky.
the researchers were also surprised to find that the silver- antibiotic combo was able to re-sensitize bacteria that had developed a resistance to drugs. Even in vanomycin(commonaly  used antibiotic).

2.Reaction with Bacterial Cell Membranes: the silver ions reacts with the surface radicals of  imparing the respiration and blocking its energy transfer system. Specific enzymes are required for for a given biochemical activity to take place. These usually require a specific metallic atom for its function. A metal of higher valance can replace a metal of lower valance in the enzyme complex, preventing the enzyme from functioning normally. Silver, with a valance of plus 2, can replace many metals with a lower, or equal valance that exhibit weaker atomic bonding properties.

3.Binding with DNA: 12% of silver is taken up by the organism's DNA. While it remains unclear exactly how the silver binds to the DNA without destroying the hydrogen bonds holding the lattice together, it nevertheless prevents the DNA from unwinding, an essential step for cellular replication to occur .

How does it help the antibiotics??

Many of the antibiotics are thought to kill the target by producing reactive oxygen compounds but when it is boosted up with a small amount of silver these drugs could kill between 10 to 1000 times more bacteria.. the increased membrane permeability also allows more antibiotics to enter the bacterial cells, which may overwhelm the resistance mechanisms that rely on shutting the drug back out.

What does it do?

The silver ions  interfere with the cellular processes in bacteria , including disulfide bond formation , iron homeostasis and metabolism. These changes makes the cell wall more permeable, but also lead to increased  production of reactive oxygen species which can induce cell death via the dna damage.

Fights with??

Addition effect of this silver is that the antibiotics are only effective in killing the gram positive bacteria like staph and strep but when aided by silver it also killed the gram negative bacteria like food poisoning microbes and infectious microbes.Researchers have also found that silver helped to deal with two kinds of treatmentthat required repeated trips to clinical antibiotic treatment Caused by bioflims, slimy layers of microbes that coat catheters and prosthetic joints.Bacteria that lie dormant during antibiotic treatment and then resurge when it finishes, causing recurrent infection.

So silver can play a really valuable role as an adjunct to current antibiotics.Because it is proving very difficult for drug companies to find new drugs to tackle the rising problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria,Silver has long been used to prevent and treat infections.

Can it have an Adverse effect??

 It does but when it is consumed excessively.Argyria, an irreversible condition in which the skin turns blue or gray due tothe buildup of silver particles as a result of consuming silver over long periods of time. Though the quatity is very small it leads to serious infections in individuals. Silver can be toxic to nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, but is normally prevented from entering those areas by the blood-brain barrier. Silver has not demonstrated any evidence of carcinogenic activity. The body eliminates excess silver via the metallothiones. These ubiquitous proteins, first characterized in 1957, have the property of binding with heavy metals, such as silver, into metal-thiolate-cluster structures which aid in transportation, storage, and elimination of nonessential trace metals which enter the body. 

Silver has been used as an antibiotic  since the days of  Hippocrates. Antibiotic resistance is running rampant these days. More and more bacteria strains are evolving to beat our treatments, allowing infections to persist and wreak havoc on our health. The trickiest types of infections are those that involve Gram-negative bacteria. These strains, which include E. coli and Salmonella, have an almost impermeable cell wall that protects them from antibiotics. This is why illnesses like meningitis and urinary tract infections can be tough to get over. Many findings have revealed that silver stages a multi-targeted attack on even the best-armed bacteria.

 This is a very exciting discovery for the medical world with the possible uses and applications for this precious metal continuing to grow.