Antimicrobial effects of silver nanoparticles coated leather on diabetic foot ulcer

Background: Lower limb infection is among significant causes of mortality, morbidity, and prolonged treatment in diabetic patients. Lately, silver nanoparticles, found in various medical applications such as silver coated medical devices, have been introduced as an effective antimicrobial agent. Considering the fact that the antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles has been established, the aim of study was to determines the efficacy of these particles in reducing the number of microorganisms which grow on diabetic foot ulcer and subsequently prevent diabetic foot infections. Methods: In this case-control study aerobic and anaerobic microorganism were taken from diabetic foot infections of patients visiting the outpatient diabetes clinic by micro debridement. Microorganisms were recognized through standard microbiological methods using kits such as tio glycolat, blood Agar, MacConkeys and chocolate Agar. The natural leather and nanoparticle-coated leather were then inserted in culture media. After 24 hours, samples were count by Muller. Results: Two hundred twenty two strains of 24 different types of bacteria were isolated from 95 diabetic foot ulcers, from among which 94 [42.3%] and 128 [57.7%] strains were respectively gram negative and gram positive. The number of bacteria that grew on the nanoparticle-coated leather was significantly lower. Conclusion: Considering the reduced number of aerobic, anaerobic, gram positive and negative bacteria that grew in diabetic foot ulcers when using nanoparticle-coated leather culture, it could be concluded that the use of such silver coats leather in diabetic foot shoes may prevent diabetic foot infections considerably