###### Abstract
1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 1-3 Alsea Portocaelor Str., District 5, 060101 Bucharest, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.C.C.) 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 1-3 Alsea Portocaelor Str., District 5, 060101 Bucharest, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.C.C.) 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 1-3 Alsea Portocaelor Str., District 5, 060101 Bucharest, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.C.C.) 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 1-3 Alsea Portocaelor Str., District 5, 060101 Bucharest, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.C.C.) 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 1-3 Alsea Portocaelor Str., District 5, 060101 Bucharest, Romania; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.G. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.C.C.) 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 1-3 Alsea Portocaelor Str. 100 individuals; Switzerland: 0.2 cases per 1000 individuals; New Zealand: 79 cases per 100,000 individuals; China: 1.5-20.3 cases per 100 individuals [1]. The main features involved in leg-ulcer pathology are: increased enzymatic activity of matrix proteases [5], especially metalloproteinases [6], increased local concentration of proinflammatory cytokines that trigger an exaggerated inflammatory response, cell senescence [5], decreased angiogenesis and degradation of the newly formed cell matrix [6], and deficiency of response to growth factors [5], which causes the low mitogenic activity of tissue cells and a delayed repair phase [7]. The evolution of leg ulcers is frequently complicated by the occurrence of chronic-wound-associated infections, the most frequently isolated microbial strains being _Staphylococcus aureus_, _Escherichia coli_, _Enterococcus faecalis_ and fungi, particularly _Candida_ spp. [7]. Although there are numerous international studies on the microbiome's contribution to the evolution of chronic ulcers in Romania, there is very little data on the virulence or resistance phenotypes of microbial strains isolated from these chronic pathologies. Elucidation of resistance profiles, not only to antibiotics, but also to the antiseptides that are used in the treatment of chronic ulcers, is crucial to optimize therapeutic strategies [8; 9]. Silver-based antiseptides are among the most used antiseptides for chronic-ulcer therapeutic management. Silver is inactive in its metallic, elementary form, but it becomes bactericidal after ionization, a phenomenon that occurs in the air, but much faster in exudative media, such as exudative wounds [10]. Silver has been described as oligodynamic due to its bactericidal effect at very low concentrations [11]. Silver ions bind to the cell membrane, leading to the alteration of the electric potential [12] by the massive loss of protons across the membrane, resulting in the loss of electrical potential and, ultimately, cell death [11]. Inside the bacterial cell, silver ions interact with nucleophilic groups in proteins, attaching to the sulfhydryl, amino, imidazole, phosphate and carboxyl groups and leading to protein denaturation. Silver interferes with the energy-producing systems and their enzymes [12]. Thus, silver can disrupt respiratory chain enzymes (dehydrogenase) causing premature electron leakage, which when reacting with cytoplasmic molecular oxygen (O\({}_{2}\)) will generate a superoxide radical [13]. When used in the form of nanoparticles, ranging in size from 1 to 100 nm and exhibiting different physical and chemical characteristics, the bactericidal effect of silver is amplified, which allows it to be used for the treatment of infections with multi-drug-resistant bacteria [14]. Metal nanoparticles act by changing bacterial cell-membrane permeability [15].