Chitosan fabricated silver nitroprusside nanocomposites prepared for enhanced antibacterial and cytocompatibility applications through controlled release of metal ions and nitric oxide

Anbazhagan Sathiyaseelan; Xin Zhang; Subramani Kumaran; Myeong-Hyeon Wang

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.139641

Chitosan fabricated silver nitroprusside nanocomposites prepared for enhanced antibacterial and cytocompatibility applications through controlled release of metal ions and nitric oxide

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jan 7:139641. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.139641. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Anbazhagan Sathiyaseelan¹, Xin Zhang¹, Subramani Kumaran², Myeong-Hyeon Wang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bio-Health Convergence, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India.
³ Department of Bio-Health Convergence, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: mhwang@kangwon.ac.kr.

PMID: 39788264
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.139641

Abstract

Silver nitroprusside complex nanoparticles (AgN NPs) have garnered significant attention for their antimicrobial properties. However, challenges such as toxicity and limited biocompatibility often hinder their practical applications. Therefore, this study introduces a combined approach to fabricating AgN NPs with chitosan (CS), resulting in CS-AgN nanocomposites (CS-AgN NCs) with cytocompatibility. AgN NPs exhibited a distinct cubic morphology with a mean size of 52.88 ± 15.45 nm, while CS-AgN NCs showed a smaller, spherical, and elongated structure. The incorporation of CS led to significant changes in AgN NPs, including a reduction in the zeta potential from -47.5 mV to -15.3 mV and alterations in crystallinity. A key finding was that nitric oxide (NO) release was highly pH-dependent, which could offer targeted therapeutic potential. Both nanoparticle systems demonstrated potent antibacterial effects, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) as low as 6.25 μg/mL against E. coli, alongside strong biofilm inhibition (≥80 % at 12.5-25 μg/mL). The CS-AgN NCs also exhibited superior antioxidant activity compared to AgN NPs, without compromising cell viability or causing hemolysis, and Artemia salina making them promising candidates for biomedical applications. This work highlights the unique interplay between AgN NPs and CS, offering insights into their potential for next-generation antimicrobial therapies.

Keywords: Anti-biofilm; Antibacterial; Chitosan; Cytotoxicity; Nitroprusside; Silver nitrate.