The selective cytotoxicity effect of biosynthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles using honey

Abstract

This work aims to produce biosynthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles using honey (Ho-ZnO-NPs). First, the process of characterization was completed using different techniques, including the color changing to light brown, Zeta-potential that shows a sharp peak at − 5.08 mV, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), which represents the high percentage of Zinc (57.36 %), oxygen (35.03 %) and carbon (7.62 %), Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopy (TEM and SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis that illustrate the spherical and hexagonal structure. Then, the cytotoxicity activity was studied using an MTT assay on three cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HepG2, and A431) and an HSF normal cell line. Furthermore, the prepared nanoparticles Ho-ZnO-NPs show that the different IC50 are 118.1, 49.5, and 751.7 µg/mL for MCF-7, HepG2, and A431, respectively. In addition, IC50 is 1.47 mg/mL for HSF. In conclusion, the study reveals that the biosynthesized Ho-ZnO-NPs have higher anticancer activity against HepG2, plus their safety against normal skin cells.