Antiviral activity of mycosynthesized silver nanoparticles against herpes simplex virus and human parainfluenza virus type 3

Swapnil Gaikwad,¹ Avinash Ingle,¹ Aniket Gade,¹ Mahendra Rai,¹ Annarita Falanga,³ Novella Incoronato,² Luigi Russo,² Stefania Galdiero,³ Massimilano Galdiero<sup>2

1</sup>Department of Biotechnology, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati, Maharashtra, India; ²Department of Experimental Medicine, Division of Microbiology, II University of Naples, ³Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples “Federico II”, DFM and Institute of Biostructures and Bioimages, Naples, Italy

Abstract: The interaction between silver nanoparticles and viruses is attracting great interest due to the potential antiviral activity of these particles, and is the subject of much research effort in the treatment of infectious diseases. In this work, we demonstrate that silver nanoparticles undergo a size-dependent interaction with herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 and with human parainfluenza virus type 3. We show that production of silver nanoparticles from different fungi is feasible, and their antiviral activity is dependent on the production system used. Silver nanoparticles are capable of reducing viral infectivity, probably by blocking interaction of the virus with the cell, which might depend on the size and zeta potential of the silver nanoparticles. Smaller-sized nanoparticles were able to inhibit the infectivity of the viruses analyzed.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, antiviral, herpes simplex virus, parainfluenza virus