Sumario: | Nanotechnology is a new discipline with huge applications including medicine and pharmacology industries. Although several
methods and reducing agents have been employed to synthesize silver nanoparticles, reactive chemicals promote toxicity and
nondesired effects on the human and biological systems. The objective of this work was to synthesize silver nanoparticles
from Glycyrrhiza glabra and Amphipterygium adstringens extracts and determine their bactericidal and antimycotic activities
against Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans growth, respectively. 1 and 10 mM silver nitrate were mixed with an extract
of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Amphipterygium adstringens. Green silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were characterized by TEM, VisNIR,
FTIR, fluorescence, DLS, TGA, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Bactericidal and antimycotic activities of AgNPs were
determined by Kirby and Bauer method and cell viability MTT assays. AgNPs showed a spherical shape and average size of 9 nm
if prepared with Glycyrrhiza glabra extract and 3 nm if prepared with Amphipterygium adstringens extract. AgNPs inhibited the
bacterial and fungal growth as was expected, without a significant cytotoxic effect on human epithelial cells. Altogether, these
results strongly suggest that AgNPs could be an interesting option to control oral biofilms.
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