Plant-Mediated Production of Antibacterial Nanomaterials Fulfilling a Reactive Oxygen Species Strategy

Innovative antibacterial agents, which need to be urgently developed, should provide a new path that avoids pathogenic bacteria drug resistance. A promising strategy to treat bacterial infections consists of implementing nanoparticles (NPs). Several nanomaterials, including metal NPs, induce oxidative stress in living cells by producing reactive radicals at their surface. The oxidative stress thus raised is a potent mechanism of antibacterial action. Owing to their reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related ability, metal NPs could contribute to the targeted bioactivity of preparations designed on their basis. However, totally inorganic nanomaterials frequently suffer from relatively low selectivity with respect to bacterial targets, limited dispersibility, and undesirable side effects linked to ambiguous toxicity. For the development of bacteria drug resistance, the incorporation of specific ligands responsible for bacterial eradication into NPs seems to be necessary. The synergistic action of NPs with natural materials demonstrates complementary effects and improved antibacterial capacity. The modification of NPs by natural organic supporting agents extracted from plants could potentially resolve some of the existing issues related to bacterial drug resistance. The purpose of the current work is to review the ROS-mediated antibacterial manifestation strategy of metal NPs conjugated with botanical bactericidal substances. Different aspects of the metal toxicity of NPs and the compromised selectivity of ROS for bacterial pathogens are also considered.