The Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and Anticancer Activity of Greenly Synthesized Selenium and Zinc Composite Nanoparticles Using Ephedra aphylla Extract.

Ayman Y. El-Khateeb,Mostafa M. Eraqi,Mustafa Mohsen El-Zayat,Marwan A. Ibrahim,Hani Alrefai,Moustafa Mohammed Elshaer,Maher M. Aljohani,Hashim M. Aljohani

doi:10.3390/biom11030470

Abstract

The current work aimed to synthesize selenium and zinc nanoparticles using the aqueous extract of Ephedra aphylla as a valuable medicinal plant. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, zeta potential, and changes in the phytochemical constituents. Hence, the phenolic, flavonoid, and tannin contents were reduced in the case of the prepared samples of nanoparticles than the original values in the aqueous extract. The prepared extract of Ephedra aphylla and its selenium and zinc nanoparticles showed high potency as antioxidant agents as a result of the DPPH• assay. The samples were assessed as anticancer agents against six tumor cells and a normal lung fibroblast (WI-38) cell line. The selenium nanoparticles of Ephedra aphylla extract revealed very strong cytotoxicity against HePG-2 cells (inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 7.56 ± 0.6 µg/mL), HCT-116 cells (IC50 = 10.02 ± 0.9 µg/mL), and HeLa cells (IC50 = 9.23 ± 0.8 µg/mL). The samples were evaluated as antimicrobial agents against bacterial and fungal strains. Thus, selenium nanoparticles showed potent activities against Gram-negative strains (Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli), Gram-positive strains (Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis), and the fungal strain Candida albicans. In conclusion, the preparation of nanoparticles of either selenium or zinc is crucial for improved biological characteristics.

Highlights

Plants are rich in different types of natural compounds
The chemical constitutes of aqueous stem extract of Ephedra aphylla, and its sources comprise a wide range of diverse privileged secondary metabolites, in which they are potentially reducing materials for the biogenic production of nanoparticles [44]
This study provided evidence for the synergetic relation between Ephedra aphylla extracts and the produced selenium and zinc nanoparticles, and the obtained results revealed that the resulted products from our study could be used as an alternative for antibiotics as it was clear that these products were more efficient than the compared antibiotics, in addition to their broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as S. aureus

Summary

Introduction

Plants are rich in different types of natural compounds. Recent research in synthetic chemistry reported a good potential of natural compounds to provide better aspects of treatment and prevention of many diseases [2,3,4,5]. Plant-derived anticancer drugs, such as vincristine, vinblastine, camptothecin, and taxol, are a part of the battle against tumor cells [1]. The continuing search for new antitumor natural compounds is a promising avenue for its prevention or treatment [6]. Plant compounds such as alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, phenyl-propanoids, and terpenoids have been reported to have anticancer activity [7,8]

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Results

Conclusion