| Keywords [eng] |
Biotechnology, nanoparticles, biofilms, microbiology, nanoparticle treatments, niobium pentoxide, nanodalelės, niobio pentoksidas, bioplėvelės |
| Abstract [eng] |
Over the years, antimicrobial resistance has increased, with biofilms being the most crucial cause, posing a substantial burden on economic and healthcare systems. Nanomaterials have emerged as a novel treatment for biofilm-caused infections, showing excellent antimicrobial properties and low cytotoxicity. Niobium pentoxide, a metal oxide nanoparticle, exhibits the mentioned properties, making it a promising candidate for further research. This work aims to analyze the antimicrobial effects of niobium pentoxide nanoparticles on polymicrobial biofilms as a potential component in nano-enabled injectable hydrogels for chronic wound treatments. The goals are: to optimize the niobium pentoxide nanoparticle treatment conditions, assess the treatment effects on metabolic activity, cell viability, extracellular matrix production in both monomicrobial and polymicrobial biofilms, to evaluate the changes in extracellular matrix components, carbohydrate, and protein levels, and to visualize the biofilm structure following nanoparticle exposure. Biofilms were treated with optimized conditions of 3 g/L niobium pentoxide for 24-hours, following XTT tests for metabolic activity evaluation, CFU tests for cell viability, exracellular polymeric substance extraction for the production evaluation, following with its component amount analysis after treatment, finalizing with the visualization to show the biofilm architecture changes and potential cell disruption. The results showed effective treatment with niobium pentoxide nanoparticles, confirming the potential antimicrobial properties of polymicrobial biofilms. |
