MEDICAMENT CONTAINING A METAL SUCH AS SILVER, GOLD, PLATINUM OR PALLADIUM AS AN ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT AND THEIR USE TO INDUCE APOPTOSIS IN CANCEROUS TISSUE

摘要

The invention relates to a method to induce apoptosis and to inhibit matrix metalloproteinases in a disease condition in a human or animal by contacting hyperplastic tissue, tumor tissue, or a cancerous lesion with one or more antimicrobial metals, preferably formed with atomic disorder, and preferably in a nanocrystalline form. The nanocrystalline antimicrobial metal of choise may be used in the form of a nanocrystalline coating of one or more antimicrobial metals, a nanocrystalline powder of one or more antimicrobial metals , or a solution containing dissolved species from a nanocrystalline powder or coating of one or more antimicrobial metals .