Synthesis and characterization of core-shell bimetallic nanoparticles for synergistic antimicrobial effect studies in combination with doxycycline on burn specific pathogens

•Ag-Au BNPs were synthesized using the core-shell method.•Synthesized bimetallic nanoparticles showed synergistic antimicrobial effect with doxycycline for burn specific pathogens.•The synthesized Ag-Au BNPs showed moderate antioxidant and excellent anti-inflammatory activities.

Nano-medicine is a breakthrough discovery in the healthcare sector. Doxycycline is a new generation antibiotic which is proved to be a boon in the treatment of patients with complicated skin infections. We have tried to explore the benefits of synthesized bimetallic silver-gold nanoparticles in combination with new generation antibiotic for burn infections. The bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized by core-shell method were characterized using scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The calculated average particle sizes of the Ag-Au NPs were found to be 27.5 nm. The Ag-Au core-shell BNPs show a characteristic Plasmon peak at 525 nm which is broad and red shifted. The synergistic antimicrobial activity of doxycycline conjugated bimetallic nanoparticles was investigated against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus. This combined therapeutic agent showed greater bactericidal activity. Synergy of antibiotic with bimetallic nanoparticles is quite promising for significant application in burn healing therapy. The mechanism of the antibacterial activity was studied through the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that was later suppressed with antioxidant to establish correlation with the Ag-Au NPs antimicrobial activity. Ag-Au NPs showed effective antiproliferative activity toward A549 human lung cancer (CCL-185) and MCF-7 human breast cancer (HTB-22) cell lines.