Abstract
Silver (Ag) has been widely used in commercial products and medical fields since ancient times because of its antibacterial effect. It is harmless and non-toxic to the human body. For this reason, recent research has actively evaluated antimicrobial activity using silver (Ag). In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of a silver-based compound, silver phosphate ($Ag_3PO_4$) on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and the activation of human immunity. First, the inhibitory effect of $Ag_3PO_4$ on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus was confirmed by a growth curve and a colonyounting method. As a result, the growth inhibitory effect increased as the concentration of $Ag_3PO_4$ increased. Specifically, treatment with $5{\mu}g/mL$ of $Ag_3PO_4$ resulted in no bacteria growth, and the colony-counting method showed a remarkable inhibition. In addition, the expression of cytokine IL-8 by $Ag_3PO_4$ was examined to investigate the cellular immune system activation by $Ag_3PO_4$. After pretreatment of Staphylococcus aureus for 1 hour with $50{\mu}g/mL$ $Ag_3PO_4$, an increased IL-8 mRNA expression resulted. In cells treated with $Ag_3PO_4$, we found that the expression of IL-8 was enhanced in a time-dependent fashion compared to non-treated cells. These results indicate that $Ag_3PO_4$ induces antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and activates human immunity. These results are expected to contribute to the future study of the mechanism of silver (Ag) and silver-based compounds in relation to antibacterial activity.