Green Synthesis of Silver Nanocomposites of Nigella sativa Seeds Extract for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Silver nanoparticles play a significant role in bioavailability and refining the compatibility of natural drugs in the treatment of various chronic diseases including different types of cancer. Objective: Green synthesis of silver nanocomposites of Nigella sativa seeds extract to evaluate the anticancer effects against hepatocellular carcinoma using HepG2 cell lines. Methods: The AgNCs were developed by treating aqueous extract of N. sativa seeds treated with silver nitrate (1mM) solution and were used to test its efficacy against hepatocellular carcinoma using HepG2 cell lines. Results and Discussion: The Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) of prepared AgNCs showed a peak at 432 nm via UV spectroscopy. The selected N. sativa AgNCs were characterized for polydispersity, surface charge and size and the results showed 0.215±0.093 polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential 18.8±0.372 mV and size range 10-20 nm, respectively. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) also showed various peak of functional groups that are possibly involved in the reduction of silver ion and synthesized the N. sativa silver nanocomposites, respectively. N. sativa AgNCs showed 89.954% drug release while in the case of extract release, it was only 33.821% in 24 hrs. Further, in vitro studies of N. sativa AgNCs against hepatocellular carcinoma showed good cytotoxic effect p<0.05 with 7.16 µg/ml IC50 value. Conclusion: Thus, the present results revealed that green synthesis of N. sativa AgNCs can be an alternative tool for clinical application in cancer therapy; however, there is a need to find the mechanism and role of AgNCs inside the individual.