ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2011
What makes a natural clay antibacterial?
Article in Environmental science & technology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 204 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The Effects of Iron-Bearing Minerals on the Community Diversity and Physiological Activity of Prokaryotic Microorganisms in Pit Mud Used for Strong-FlavorFoods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Mineral-Based Advanced Oxidation Processes for Enhancing the Removal of Antibiotic Resistance Genes from Domestic Wastewater.ACS ES&T water · 2025Article
- Graphene-based materials: an innovative approach for neural regeneration and spinal cord injury repair.RSC advances · 2025Review
- Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Silver/Copper Oxide/Clay Hybrid Nanocomposites Against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria.Current drug metabolism · 2025Article
- VMT/ACP/Dextran composite nanosheets against dental caries through promoting mineralization of dentin tubules, pH buffering, and antibacterial.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2024Article
- The Effect of Saponite Clay on Ruminal Fermentation Parameters during In Vitro Studies.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- The application of synthetic antibacterial minerals to combat topical infections: exploring a mouse model of MRSA infection.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Fabrication and evaluation of the regenerative effect of a polycaprolactone/chitosan nanofibrous scaffold containing bentonite nanoparticles in a rat model of deep second-degree burn injury.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2024Article
- New Biocide Based on Tributyltin(IV) Ferulate-Loaded Halloysite Nanotubes for Preserving Historical Paper Artworks.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Effects of High Temperature and Heavy Precipitation on Drinking Water Quality and Child Hand Contamination Levels in Rural Kenya.Environmental science & technology · 2023Article
- Antibacterial Activity of a Natural Clay Mineral againstMicroorganisms · 2023Article
- Antimicrobial potential of four mica drugs and their chemical and mineralogical properties.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2022Article
- Synthetic antibacterial minerals: harnessing a natural geochemical reaction to combat antibiotic resistance.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Antibacterial Activity of Clay Soils against Food-BorneMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- A Novel Polyvinylpyrrolidone-Stabilized Illite Microparticle with Enhanced Antioxidant and Antibacterial Effect.Polymers · 2021Article
- Natural Clay as a Low-Cost Adsorbent for Crystal Violet Dye Removal and Antimicrobial Activity.Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The role of soils in provision of genetic, medicinal and biochemical resources.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Natural clays have been used in ancient and modern medicine, but the mechanism(s) that make certain clays lethal against bacterial pathogens has not been identified. We have compared the depositional environments, mineralogies, and chemistries of clays that exhibit antibacterial effects on a broad spectrum of human pathogens including antibiotic resistant strains. Natural antibacterial clays contain nanoscale (<200 nm), illite-smectite and reduced iron phases. The role of clay minerals in the bactericidal process is to buffer the aqueous pH and oxidation state to conditions that promote Fe(2+) solubility. Chemical analyses of E. coli killed by aqueous leachates of an antibacterial clay show that intracellular concentrations of Fe and P are elevated relative to controls. Phosphorus uptake by the cells supports a regulatory role of polyphosphate or phospholipids in controlling Fe(2+). Fenton reaction products can degrade critical cell components, but we deduce that extracellular processes do not cause cell death. Rather, Fe(2+) overwhelms outer membrane regulatory proteins and is oxidized when it enters the cell, precipitating Fe(3+) and producing lethal hydroxyl radicals.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.