Mahendra Rai - Nanotechnology in Skin, Soft Tissue, and Bone Infections

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Skin, soft tissue, and bone infections are increasing due to the invasion of a wide variety of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa. Usually, these infections are mild but they are sometimes fatal to human beings. Such infections can be cutaneous, subcutaneous, or deep-seated in tissues. Among these, bacterial infections occur commonly throughout the world and have created the problem of resistance to drugs. There are alarming reports of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA), which accounts for the major part of community-acquired skin infections. Streptococci are also responsible for such infections. These infections are more common in immunocompromised patients. Unfortunately, the rate of development of antibiotics is very slow, and the problem of multidrug-resistance is quickly increasing. These infections are booming in hospitals and mostly community-acquired. Considering these facts, there is a greater need to search for newer antibiotics or potential alternatives to tackle the problem.

In this context, nanotechnology is emerging as a potential tool to fight against multidrug-resistant microbes. It has demonstrated huge potential for the treatment of bone infections through the application of antibacterial nanomaterials. Many nanobiomaterials have been studied for scaffold reinforcement to improve their micro-mechanical and biocompatible properties. For example, calcium phosphate (CaP) bioceramics are commonly used as local delivery agents (nanocarriers) for the treatment of bone infections and can be substituted with antibacterial nanoparticles that possess broad-spectrum activity even against multidrug-resistant bacteria. Metal nanoparticles such as silver nanoparticles and other antimicrobial nanomaterials can be used for coating of implants. This self-assembly at the nanolevel at body temperature may, in the future, be used by way of side chains to direct bone growth or possibly to combat osteomyelitis. Silver nanoparticles are yet another nanostructured material that is attracting increasing attention as an effective antimicrobial agent. Wound dressings impregnated with silver nanoparticles have already proven their remarkable potential against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

The present book covers the role of nanotechnology in skin infections such as atopic dermatitis and acne vulgaris, as well as the role of metal nanoparticles as antibacterial and antifungal. It additionally elaborates on the management of wound and bone infections using different nanoparticles. Finally, this book discusses toxicity issues concerning the use of nanoparticles.

This book will be useful for master and postgraduate students, researchers, and teachers dealing with medical microbiology, dermatology, osteology, nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, pharmacology, microbiology, and biotechnology.