Abstract
Despite numerous potent antibiotics, bacterial infections, particularly those caused by nocosomial pathogens are a majorcause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. These affect the severely ill, hospitalized and immunocompromisedpatients who are vulnerable to infections. The option for treatment with antimicrobials is mostly empirical and not bereft oftoxicity, teratogenicity and/or mutagenicity, hypersensitivity. The appearance of multi-drug resistant bacterial strains furtheraggravates the clinical problem as the microorganisms spread epidemically among the patients. Moreover, there is a growingconcern regarding biofilm-associated infections that are refractory to the currently available antimicrobial armory, leavingalmost no treatment option. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop additional bactericidal agents. The attention has beenespecially devoted to new and emerging nanoparticle-based materials in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy.The past decade has witnessed a substantial surge in the global use of nanomedicines as antimicrobials. Several metaland metal oxide nanoparticles have been reported for their antibacterial activity. The microbes are eradicated either by themicrobicidal effects of the nanoparticles itself, or by microbistatic effects followed by killing potentiated by the host’s immunesystem. The effect of nanoparticles on the microbial biofilms along with the molecular mechanisms by which the nanoparticlesannihilate multidrug-resistant bacteria will be discussed. Combinatorial therapeutic approach with the metallic nanoparticlesmay serve as adjunct to the existing antibiotics and may help to curb the mounting menace of bacterial resistance and nocosomialthreat.