Comparative cytotoxic analysis of plant synthesized metallic nanoparticles and their extracts against breast cancer cells

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality among women worldwide. Several therapeutic strategies including surgery, hormonal therapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have been used to fight against cancer. However, these therapies have several drawbacks such as non-specificity, drug resistance, less efficiency and high doses. These disadvantages lead researchers to find therapies which offer more specificity and sensitivity. Among these, plant-based metallic nanoparticles have emerged as a promising approach due to their improved bioactivity and reduced side effects. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the anticancer potential of aqueous extracts of selected medicinal plants and their corresponding silver (Ag) NPs against the human breast cancer cells.

Methods: Aqueous extracts of the plants were prepared, and their AgNPs were synthesized. Cytotoxic effects were assessed using the MTT assay over a concentration range of 0.5–150 µg/ml for both extracts and NPs. Microscopic examination revealed pronounced morphological changes in NP-treated cells compared to those treated with plant extracts only and untreated controls.

Results: The MTT assay demonstrated significantly higher cytotoxicity of NPs formulations relative to their respective extracts. The LC50 values of fenugreek-AgNPs, N. sativa-AgNPs, C. colocynthis-AgNPs, A. indica-AgNPs, Z. officinale-AgNPs, and A. sativum-AgNPs were 3.6, 11.2, 4.97, 18, 24.4, and 31.43 µg/ml, respectively. Fenugreek-AgNPs showed the strongest anticancer activity at the lowest concentration.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that plant-based NPs exhibit significant anticancer efficacy at lower doses compared to crude plant extracts and may serve as promising candidates for breast cancer therapy.