Effect on antimicrobial activity of antifungal agents-silver nanoparticles combined treatments

Infectious diseases are a global public health problem; they are among the leading causes of death worldwide and consume a significant amount of resources. Fungi are the most common pathogens in humans and animals. Fungal infections incidence has increased more than 200%. Currently, antifungal agents are used for combating fungal infections, but there are many problems associated with their use, such as the emergence of resistant organisms, as well as the complexity related to the development of new antibiotics. In that sense, silver nanoparticles have proven to be an alternative solution to fight fungal infections due their capacity to inhibit fungal growth. In this work, we studied the antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), antifungal agents (Amphotericin B and Fluconazole) and combinations of both, AgNPs-antifungals over the pathogenic dimorphic yeast Candida albicans. The antimicrobial tests were performed according to the CLSI ́s M27-A3 protocols. Combined AgNPs-antifungal treatments showed a different effect on antimicrobial activity. We found a synergistic effect of specific combined treatment, whereas antagonistic effect was observed with other combination.