ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the methodologies for the evaluation of nanoparticles with antimicrobial potential, describes the procedures of the most known and commonly used in vitro and in vivo and includes reference and standardized methodologies recommendations. Microorganisms employed in the studies should be selected as pathogenic representative of different localizations or illness, according to the objectives of the study. Agar diffusion technique is a semi-quantitative test consisting of applying a quantity of sample with a known concentration to the surface of the agar previously seeded with a standardized sample inoculum. The agar dilution method involves the incorporation of the antimicrobial agent in a molten agar medium (MHA for bacteria and SDA for fungi), habitually using serial two-fold dilutions. In recent years, the development of new antimicrobial drugs has become an important factor in pharmacological research due to the increase in the number of microbial infections, therapeutic failure, the development of resistant strains, and the low availability of existing drugs.
