Identification and mitigation of blood’s interference with the antimicrobial activity of AgNbO3 particles

The detrimental impact of blood on the antimicrobial activity of AgNbO3 particles was identified and investigated. It was observed that the impact is more severe in the case of lysed blood. The same phenomenon also operates in the case of commonly used silver salt, AgNO3. The inhibition was shown to be due to hemoglobin, but may be unrelated to the heme moiety. In an attempt to find additives to mitigate the inhibitory effect of hemoglobin, iron ions and the chelating agent, K2EDTA, were initially considered as potential candidates. Including ferric iron on the particles was shown to have a marginal effect, but supplying the medium with K2EDTA chelating agent, provided a better outcome for countering the deleterious impact of hemoglobin on AgNbO3 activity. These findings may be relevant for adapting the silver compounds to applications such as wound dressings, where silver's antimicrobial action would have to take place in a blood containing environment.