Our results suggest that capped nanoparticles may serve as useful topical agents for the prevention of infections with pathogens dependent on HS for entry.

Virus infections pose significant global health challenges. The present review focuses on the development of methods for the production of silver nanoparticles and on their use as antiviral therapeutics against pathogenic viruses.

This retrospective study of silver-based therapeutics briefly reviews their history, and then explores the modern application of charged silver particles, especially as an antiviral agent. The recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) suggests this is timely.

Silver nanoparticles have proven to exert antiviral activity against HIV-1 at non-cytotoxic concentrations, but the mechanism underlying their HIV-inhibitory activity has not been not fully elucidated. In this study, silver nanoparticles are evaluated to elucidate their mode of antiviral action against HIV-1 using a panel of different in vitro assays.

This research focuses on evaluating the interaction of silver nanoparticles with a New World arenavirus, Tacaribe virus, to determine if they influence viral replication. Surprisingly exposing the virus to silver nanoparticles prior to infection actually facilitated virus uptake into the host cells, but the silver-treated virus had a significant reduction in viral RNA production and progeny virus release, which indicates that silver nanoparticles are capable of inhibiting arenavirus infection in vitro.

Seven HIV consecutive patients, confirmed by their Western Blot tests, were administered Nanosilver orally (15ml four times daily) for 4 months. All the patients showed a significant increase in their CD4 lymphocyte counts after the treatment. Clinically they were 100% fit and were feeling much better after the treatment period.

Cell lines were treated with 10 and 22 ppm nanoparticle silver solutions and were indistinguishable from the control indicating no cytotoxicity.