Bioreduction of silver nanoparticles from aerial parts of <em>Euphorbia hirta</em> L. (EH-ET) and its potent anticancer activities against neuroblastoma cell lines

Abstract

<em>Euphorbia hirta</em> L. (Family: Euphorbiaceae) is a versatile medicinal plant and enriched with novel bioactive molecules and possess broad-spectrum pharmacological actions. Present work is aiming to synthesis and characterize of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by bioreduction method an using ethanolic extract of aerial parts of <em>Euphorbia hirta</em> L. (EH-ET). The synthesized AgNPs observed by a color change of source solution (as AgNPs) and further confirmed by the UV-Visible spectroscopic technique. The AgNPs synthesized were characterized by Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Zeta potential analysis. The synthesized AgNPs are polydispersed and some places it&rsquo;s agglomerated. The particle size EH-ET silver nanoparticles were analyzed using Beckman coulter particle size analyzer (Delsa^TM Nano common). The average size of the particles size noted in 2.9-206.3 nm. Anticancer activity of EH-ET Silver nanoparticles was tested against neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) and breast cancer cells (SH-SY5Y) and cytotoxicity were tested in vero cells by MTT assay. The preliminary confirmation of the synthesized AgNPs by the present method was made by the appearance of reddish brown color and the visible absorption peak at 429.5 nm. SEM image revealed that AgNPs synthesized were spherical in shape and silver nanoparticles were in the size range of 2.9 to 206.3 nm. FT-IR spectra showed the peaks corresponding to functional groups C=O, -C=C and -OH, which actively participated in bio-reduction and subsequent stabilization reactions in the synthesis of AgNPs. The obtained nanoparticles showed promising anticancer activity against neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Yc) and breast cancer cells (MCF-7) with IC₅₀ values of 29.85 and 335 &micro;g/mL, respectively. Whereas, the nanoparticles did not show any activity against vero cell lines. The synthesized silver nanoparticles using an ethanolic extract of <em>Euphorbia hirta</em> L. would be helpful for the preparation of potent cytotoxicity agents to destroy cancer cells.