Trinuclear silver(I) complex of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen: Synthesis, characterization, and in vitro cytotoxicity

Abstract

Herein, a new silver(I) complex with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug naproxen and nitrogen donor 3-picoline ligands was synthesized, characterized, and subsequently tested for its cytotoxicity against different types of cancer cell lines. Elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance techniques showed that the molecular formula of the prepared complex is bis(3-picoline)tris(m-naproxenato)trisilver(I) and naproxen ligands bind to silver ions in a bridging bidentate mode. 2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide (XTT) results revealed that silver salts and naproxen alone showed quite weak cytotoxic activity against human breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-453), lung adenocarcinoma (A-549), and colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cell lines (IC50 > 250 µM), whereas the complex displayed dose dependent cytotoxicity against the aforementioned cell lines. The highest cytotoxicity was observed on MDA-MB-453 cells with an IC50 value of 11.73 µM. Moreover, the complex showed higher selectivity against the cancer cell lines compared to fibroblast 3T3-L1 cells. This study provides preliminary scientific data on the complex for further elucidation of its anticancer mechanism of action.