Abstract
Corn cob is an agricultural byproduct that produces an estimated waste burden in the thousands of tons annually, but it is also a good source of xylan, an important bioactive polysaccharide. Silver nanoparticles containing xylan (nanoxylan) were produced using an environmentally friendly synthesis method. To do this, we extracted xylan from corn cobs using an ultrasound technique, which was confirmed by both chemical and NMR analyses. This xylan contained xylose, glucose, arabinose, galactose, mannose, and glucuronic acid in a molar ratio of 50:21:14:9:2.5:2.5, respectively. Nanoxylan synthesis was analyzed using UV–vis spectroscopy at kmax = 469 nm and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), which confirmed the presence of both silver and xylan in the nanoxylan product. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that the nanoxylan particles were ~102.0 nm in size and spherical in shape, respectively. DLS also demonstrated that nanoxylan was stable for 12 months and coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) showed that the nanoxylan particles were 19% silver. Nanoxylan reduced Leishmania amazonensis promastigote viability with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 25 μg/mL, while xylan alone showed no effective. Additionally, nanoxylan exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans (MIC = 7.5 μg/mL), C. parapsilosis (MIC = 7.5 μg/mL), and Cryptococcus neoformans (MIC = 7.5 μg/mL). Taken together, these data suggest that it is possible to synthesize silver nanoparticles using xylan and that these nanoxylan exert improved antileishmanial and antifungal activities when compared to the untreated polysaccharide or silver nitrate used for their synthesis. Thus, nanoxylan may represent a promising new class of antiparasitic agents for use in the treatment of these microorganisms.
Highlights
Protozoa and fungi, despite being two distinct groups within the classification of life, have something in common; some representatives of both groups cause infections in other living organisms
Leishmaniasis is one of the most prominent neglected infectious diseases in the world. It is endemic in 98 countries, and approximately 350 million people are susceptible to this disease [1], with an estimated 12 million infections worldwide [2]
It is worth noting that these authors synthesized silver nanoparticles with fungal cell wall polysaccharides. This size is promising in light of the findings reported by Coradeghini et al [47] and Elsabahy and Wooley [48], who have shown that nanoparticles with sizes between 20 and 200 nm in suspension are useful in vivo because they are less likely to induce toxicity, as they do not incur as much membrane damage as that incurred by larger molecules
Summary
Despite being two distinct groups within the classification of life, have something in common; some representatives of both groups cause infections in other living organisms. Leishmaniasis is one of the most prominent neglected infectious diseases in the world It is endemic in 98 countries, and approximately 350 million people are susceptible to this disease [1], with an estimated 12 million infections worldwide [2]. There are several disease-causing fungi including organisms from both the Candida and Cryptococcus genera. These two genera cause candidiasis [3] and cryptococcosis [4], respectively. Factors such as immunosuppression and a lack of adequate treatment contribute to long hospital stays and high morbidity rates for people affected by these diseases [5,6]
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