Species |
# of Strains Tested |
MIC in micrograms/ml |
Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin resistant) |
97 |
64-128 |
Coagulase-negative staphylococci |
20 |
16 |
Streptococcus pyogenes |
20 |
8-128 |
Enterococci |
20 |
32-128 |
Candida Albicans |
20 |
64 |
Escheri coli |
20 |
16-32 |
Klebsiella pnemoniae |
20 |
32-128 |
Enterobacter spp. |
20 |
64-128 |
Pseudomonas aeruginosa |
20 |
16-32 |
Numerous details of experimental procedures were omitted in the 12 publications describing the in vitro effectiveness of silver sulphadiazine between 1973 and 1991, and this casts doubt on the numerical results obtained. (18) de Boer, P., and Collinson, P.O. 1981. The use of silver sulphadiazine occlusive dressings for finger-tip injuries. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 63B(4), 545-547. (19) (20) Coward, Joe E., Carr, Howard S., and Rosenkranz, Herbert S. 1973. Silver sulfadiazine: effect on the growth and ultrastructure of Staphylococci. Chemotherapy 19, 348-353. |
Species |
Strain No. |
AgSu, MIC, micrograms per milliliter |
GM |
CF |
AM |
Te |
C |
Pen |
E |
L |
M |
Su |
S. aureus |
1217 |
3.13 |
S |
S |
R |
S |
S |
R |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S. aureus |
1222 |
25.0 |
S |
S |
R |
R |
S |
R |
R |
R |
S |
S |
S. aureus |
1223 |
25.0 |
S |
S |
R |
S |
S |
R |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S. aureus |
1255 |
<0.78 |
S |
R |
R |
S |
S |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
S. aureus |
1293 |
3.13 |
S |
S |
R |
S |
R |
R |
S |
R |
S |
S |
S. epidermis |
1575 |
3.13 |
S |
S |
S |
R |
R |
R |
S |
S |
S |
R |
S. epidermis |
1593 |
3.13 |
S |
S |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
Abbreviations: MIC= minimal inhibitory concentration; S= sensitive; R= resistant; AgSu= silver sulfadiazine; |
(21) Kulick, Michael I., et al. 1985. Prospective study of side effects associated with the use of silver sulfadiazine in severely burned patients. Annals of Plastic Surgery, 14(5), 407-419. (22) Modak, Shanta M., and Fox, Charles L. Jr. 1973. Binding of silver sulfadiazine to the cellular components of Pseudonomas aeruginosa. Biochemical Pharmacology, 22, 2391-2404. (23) Chambers, Cecil W., Proctor, Charles M., and Kabler, Paul W. 1962. Bactericidal effect of low concentrations of silver. Journal of the American Water Works Association, 208-216. (24) Wysor, M.S., and Zollinhofer, R.E. 1973. Silver phosphanilamidopyrimidine. Chemotherapy, 18, 342-347. (25) Kawahara, K., et al. 2000. Antibacterial effect of silver-zeolite on oral bacteria under anaerobic conditions. Dental Materials, 16, 452-455. (26) Hamilton-Miller, J.M.T, and Shah, Saroji. 1996. A microbiological assessment of silver fusidate, a novel topical antimicrobial agent. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, 7, 97-99. The table below summarizes some of the test results. |
Species [no. tested] |
Antimicrobial Compound |
MIC (mg/l) |
S. pyogenes [20] |
Silver fusidate |
4-16 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
4-64 |
Enterococci [20] |
Silver fusidate |
0.5-8 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
4-64 |
Enterobacter spp. [20] |
Silver fusidate |
32-64 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
32>128 |
K. pnemoniae [20] |
Silver fusidate |
32>128 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
32-64 |
Acinetobacter spp. [20] |
Silver fusidate |
4-32 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
4-16 |
Ps. Aeruginosa [20] |
Silver fusidate |
32 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
16-32 |
Pr. Mirabilis [20] |
Silver fusidate |
32 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
16-32 |
Prov. Stuartii [20] |
Silver fusidate |
32 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
16-32 |
Prov. Morganii [15] |
Silver fusidate |
32 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
16-32 |
Pr. Vulgaris [5] |
Silver fusidate |
32 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
16-32 |
Candida albicans [20] |
Silver fusidate |
128 |
|
Silver sulphadiazine |
64 |
(27) (28) Speck, William T., and Rosenkranz, Herbert S. 1974. Activity of silver sulphadiazine against dermatophytes. The Lancet, 895-896. |
Species |
MIC (micrograms of SSD/ml) in a liquid medium |
MIC (Micrograms of SSD/ml) in a plate assay |
Microsporum audouinii |
100 |
25 |
Microsporum canis |
100 |
50 |
Microsporum ferrugineum |
100 |
- |
Trichophyton violaceum |
50 |
50 |
Trichophyton verrucosum |
50 |
50 |
Epidermophyton floccosum |
1.6 |
50 |
(29) Wlodkowski, Theodore J., and Rosenkranz, Herbert S. 1973. Antifungal activity of silver sulfadiazine. The Lancet, 739-740. |
Species |
MIC (micrograms of silver sulfadiazine per milliliter) |
Aspergillus fumigatus |
100 |
Mucor pusillus |
50 |
Rhizopus nigricans |
100 |
None of the strains was inhibited by sodium sulfadiazine. |
(30) Miller, Lawrence P., and McCallan, S.E.A. 1957. Toxic action of metal ions to fungus spores. Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 5(2), 116-122. (31) Slade, S.J., and Pegg, G.F. 1993. The effect of silver and other metal ions on the in vitro growth of root-rotting Phytophthora and other fungal species. Annals of Applied Biology, 122, 233-251. (32) Scalzo, M., et al. 1996. Antimicrobial activity of electrochemical silver ions in nonionic surfactant solutions and in model dispersions. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 48, 60-63. (33) Chang, Te-Wen, and Weinstein, Louis. 1975. In vitro activity of silver sulfadiazine against Herpesvirus hominis. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 132(1), 79-81. (34) Chang, Te-Wen, and Weinstein, Louis. 1975. Prevention of Herpes Keratoconjunctivitus in rabbits by silver sulfadiazine. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 8(6), 677-678. (35) Tokumaru, T., (36) Chang, Te-Wen, and Weinstein, Louis. 1975. Inactivation of Treponema pallidum by silver sulfadiazine. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 7(5), 538-539. (37) Montes, Leopoldo F., Muchinik, Guillermo, and Fox, Charles L. 1986. Response of varicella zoster virus and herpes zoster to silver sulfadiazine. Cutis, 38, 363-365. (38) Hussain, Saber, Anner, Rolf M., and Anner, Beatrice M. 1992. Cysteine protects Na, K-ATPase and isolated human lymphocytes from silver toxicity. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 189(3), 1444-1449. (39) (40) (41) Simonetti, N., et al. 1992. Electrochemical Ag+ for preservative use. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 58(12), 3834-3836. (42) Bosetti, M., et al. 2002. Silver coated materials for external fixation devices: in vitro biocompatibility and genotoxicity. Biomaterials, 23, 887-892. (43) Deitch, Edwin A., et al. 1983. Silver-nylon: a new antimicrobial agent. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 23(3), 356-359. (44) Marino, Andrew A., et al. 1984. Electrical augmentation of the antimicrobial activity of silver-nylon fabrics. Journal of Biological Physics, 12, 93-98. (45) Tsai, W.C., et al. 1987. In vitro quantitative study of newly made antibacterial braided nylon sutures. Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics, 165, 207-211. (46) Falcone, Alfred E., and Spadaro, Joseph A. 1986. Inhibitory effects of electrically activated silver material on cutaneous wound bacteria. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 77(3), 455-458. (47) Deitch, Edwin A., et al. 1987. Silver nylon cloth: In vitro and in vivo evaluation of antimicrobial activity. The Journal of Trauma, 27(3), 301-304. (48) Wright, J.B., et al. 1999. Efficacy of topical silver against fungal burn wound pathogens. American Journal of Infection Control, 27(4), 344-349. (49) Wright, J. Barry, Lam, (50) Becker, Robert O., and Spadaro, Joseph A. 1978. Treatment of orthopaedic infections with electrically generated silver ions. The journal of Bone and Joint surgery, 60-A(7), 871-881. (51) Nand, Sanjiv, et al. 1996. Dual use of silver for management of chronic bone infections and infected non-unions. Journal of the Indian Medical Association, 94(3), 91-95. (52) Webster, Dwight A. et al. 1981. Silver anode treatment of chronic osteomyelitis. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 161: 105-114. (53) Becker, Robert O. 2000. Effects of electrically generated silver ions on human cells and wound healing. Electro- and Magnetobiology, 19(1), 1-19. (54) Woodward, Richard L. 1963. Review of the bactericidal effectiveness of silver. Journal of the American Water Works Association, 55, 881-886. (55) Spadaro, J.A., et al. 1974. Antibacterial effects of silver electrodes with weak direct current. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 6(5), 637-642. (56) Berger, T.J., et al. 1976. Antifungal properties of electrically generated metallic ions. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 10(5), 856-860. |
Microorganism |
MIC of Anodic Ag in micrograms/ml |
Candida parapsilosis |
4.7 |
Torulopsis glabrata |
1.6 |
C. albicans I |
0.5 |
C. albicans II |
3.5 |
"There is now strong evidence in the literature that the active component of any silver compound is the silver itself" (57) Berger, T.J., et al. 1976. Electrically generated silver ions: quantitative effects on bacterial and mammalian cells. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 9(2), 357-358. |
Organism |
Strain identification no. |
MIC of anodic Ag in micrograms/ml |
MIC of silver sulfadiazine in micrograms/ml |
Escherichia coli |
ATCC 25922 |
0.50 |
|
E. coli |
Dental |
1.03 |
3.13 |
Providencia stuartii |
A 21471 |
0.13 |
12.50 |
Proteus mirabilis |
Clinical |
0.08 |
1.56 |
Pseudonomas aeruginosa |
ATCC 27853 |
0.31 |
1.56 |
Serratia |
386 A |
0.08 |
3.13 |
Staphylococcus albus |
Dental |
0.12 |
|
S. aureus |
ATCC 25923 |
0.03 |
|
S. aureus |
Dental |
0.25 |
25 |
Streptoccocus group D |
296 |
0.63 |
50 |
S. mitis |
Dental |
0.31 |
|
Mouse bone marrow cells were exposed to 4 micrograms/ml Ag. Detrimental effects to the cells were not seen. With exposure to silver, there was a slight different in types of cells arising from the bone marrow cells. |
(58) Kusnetsov, Jaana, et al. 2001. Copper and silver ions more effective against legionellae than against mycobacteria in a hospital warm water system. Water Research, 35(17), 4217-4225. (59) Slawson, R.M., et al. 1992. Germanium and silver resistance, accumulation, and toxicity in microorganisms. Plasmid, 27, 72-79. (60) Kushner, D.J. 1971. Influence of solutes and ions on microorganisms. In Inhibition and Destruction of the Microbial Cell. (61) Doul, J. 1986. Toxic effects of metals. In Casarett and Doull"s Toxicology, The Basic Science of Poisons. Third Edition. (62) Richards, R.M.E. 1981. Antimicrobial action of silver nitrate. Microbios, 31, 83-91. (63) Pruitt, Basil A. Jr. 1987. Opportunistic infections in burn patients: diagnosis and treatment. In New Surgical and Medical Approaches in Infectious diseases. (64) Fox, Charles L. Jr. 1968. Silver sulfadiazine-a new topical therapy for Pseudomonas in burns. Archives of Surgery, 96, 184-188. (65) Rosenkranz, Herbert S., and Carr, Howard S. 1972. Silver sulfadiazine: effect on the growth and metabolism of bacteria. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2(5), 367-372. (66) Coward, Joe E. and Rosenkranz, Herbert S. 1975. Electron microscopic appearance of silver sulfadiazine-treated Enterobacter clocae. Chemotherapy 21, 231-235. (67) Kucan, John O., and Smoot, E. Clyde. 1989. Topical antibacterials and soft-tissue wounds. Surgical Rounds, April, 60-70. (68) Rosenkranz, Herbert S., and Carr, Howard S. 1978. The determination of the susceptibility of bacterial isolates to silver sulfadiazine. Chemotherapy, 24, 143-145. (69) Klasen, H.J. 2000. A historical review of the use of silver in the treatment of burns, renewed interest for silver. Burns, 26, 131-138. (70) Hoffman, Steen. 1984. Silver Sulfadiazine: an antibacterial agent for topical use in burns. Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 18, 119-126. (71) Kucan, John O., et al. 1981. Comparison of silver sulfadiazine, povine-iodine and physiologic saline in the treatment of chronic pressure ulcers. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 29(5), 232-235. (72) Bishop, John B., et al. 1992. A prospective randomized evaluator-blinded trial of two potential wound healing agents for the treatment of venous stasis ulcers. Journal of Vascular Surgery, 16(2), 251-257. (73) Carr, Howard S., Wlodkowski, Theodore J., and Rosenkranz, Herbert S. 1973. Silver sulfadiazine: in vitro antibacterial activity. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 4(5), 585-587. |
Bacterial Strain |
No. |
AgSu MIC (micro- grams per ml) |
CB |
CF |
AM |
P |
M |
L |
E |
GM |
K |
ST |
C |
TE |
CL |
NA |
NI |
SU |
Serratia |
1101 |
6.25 |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
S |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
Serratia |
1254 |
3.13 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
R |
|
R |
R |
|
|
|
R |
Escherichia Coli |
RTF |
3.13 |
S |
S |
S |
R |
R |
R |
S |
S |
S |
R |
R |
R |
S |
|
|
|
E. Coli |
1200 |
25 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
R |
|
R |
R |
S |
S |
|
R |
E. Coli |
1334 |
6.25 |
S |
S |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
S |
|
R |
R |
S |
R |
|
S |
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa |
1186 |
1.56 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
R |
R |
|
R |
R |
S |
R |
|
R |
P. multiphilia |
1422 |
<0.78 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
R |
|
R |
R |
R |
S |
R |
S |
P. multiphilia |
1610 |
25 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
R |
R |
|
S |
R |
S |
|
|
S |
Klebsiella |
1415 |
50 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
R |
|
R |
R |
S |
|
|
R |
Enterobacter |
1249 |
1.56 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
S |
|
R |
S |
|
|
|
S |
Enterobacter |
1521 |
1.56 |
S |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
R |
|
S |
R |
S |
|
|
S |
Proteus Mirabilis |
1231 |
1.56 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
R |
|
R |
R |
|
|
|
R |
P. rettgeri |
1157 |
6.25 |
S |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
R |
|
R |
R |
R |
S |
|
R |
Providencia |
1505 |
12.5 |
S |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
S |
|
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
Herellea |
1642 |
6.25 |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
|
|
S |
S |
|
R |
S |
R |
S |
R |
R |
Staphylococcus Aureus |
1212 |
50 |
|
S |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
S |
|
|
R |
R |
|
|
|
R |
S. aureus |
1436 |
25 |
|
S |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
S |
|
|
S |
R |
|
|
|
S |
S. epidermidis |
1202 |
25 |
|
S |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
S |
|
|
R |
R |
|
|
|
R |
Enterococcus (group D. Streptococcus) |
1561 |
50 |
|
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
R |
|
|
R |
R |
|
|
|
R |
Abbreviations: MIC Minimum Inhibitory Concentration; AgSu silver sulfadiazine; S sensitive; R resistant; CB carbenicillin; CF cephalothin; |
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