Abstract
Cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world and requires new therapies for its treatment. In this context, the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has been developed to treat different types of tumors. The Annona muricata plant is known for having anticancer activity. Its main compounds present in the leaves, stems and skin, allowing for its use as reducing agents. In this manuscript, AgNPs with leaf extract (AgNPs-LE) and fruit peel extract (AgNPs-PE) of A. muricata were biosynthesized obtaining an average nanoparticle diameter sizes smaller than 50 nm, being 19.63 ± 3.7 nm and 16.56 ± 4.1 nm, and with a surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) at 447 and 448 nm, respectively. The lactone functional group present in the LE and PE extracts was identified by the FTIR technique. The behavior and antiproliferation activity of AgNPs-LE and AgNPs-PE were evaluated in breast, colon and melanoma cancer cell lines. Our results showed that Annona muricata fruit peel, which is a waste product, has an antitumor effect more potent than leaf extract. This difference is maintained with AgNPs where the destruction of cancer cells was, for the first time, achieved using concentrations that do not exceed 3 μg/mL with a better therapeutic index in the different tumor strains. In conclusion, we present a low-cost one-step experimental setup to generate AgNPs-PE whose in-vitro biocompatibility and powerful therapeutic effect make it a very attractive tool worth exploiting.
Highlights
Cancer is considered a worldwide public health problem [1]
Ramachandran et al have identified some plant metabolites such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, cyclic peptide, ellagic acid, gallic acid, retinoic acid and sorbic acid; these have been identified as compounds responsible for the reduction and stabilization in the synthesis of AgNPs, in addition to providing specific properties with antibacterial, anticancer and antioxidant effects [27]
Our results demonstrated that all cancer cell lines were drastically more sensitive to our biosynthesized AgNPs than extract, as they achieved a better effect with 99% lower concentrations
Summary
The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimated that in the years 2018 and 2020, 18.1 and 19.3 million. Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 1273 cancers were diagnosed across the world. Global estimates indicate that the number of new cases will increase over the two decades to 30.2 million new cases per year by 2040. Colon cancer, breast cancer and melanoma are among the cancers with the highest incidence and mortality rates [2]. Conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and hormone therapy have certain limitations [3], and research for new and more efficient therapies is required
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