Mangrove-Mediated Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles with High HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitory Potential

Nowadays, the interactions of metal nanoparticles with microorganisms and parasites of public health importance receive increasing attention due to their functional versatility and multipurpose effectiveness. In this research, green biosynthesis of antiviral silver nanomaterials was achieved allowing the reduction of Ag+ ions by the aqueous leaf extract of mangrove Rhizophora lamarckii. The reduction of metal ions to metallic nanosilver occurred readily in the aqueous solution and resulted in high density of extremely stable and crystalline silver nanoparticles, with mean size ranging from 12 to 28 nm. Green-fabricated silver nanoparticles exhibit high HIV type 1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity, even when tested at low doses. In vitro, the mangrove-fabricated silver nanoparticles showed an IC50 of 0.4 μg/ml on the HIV-1 RTase. Overall, our results highlighted the promising potential of mangrove-synthesized metal nanoparticles in the fight against HIV and other viruses of public health importance

Aegiceras corniculatum-Mediated Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles: Biophysical Characterization and Cytotoxicity on Vero Cells

Nowadays, silver nanoparticles receive increasing attention in nanomedicine, due to their characteristics which allow numerous biological applications. In this study, a biofabrication protocol was formulated to synthesize silver nanoparticles using a mangrove extract of Aegiceras corniculatum. The bio-physical characterization of mangrove-fabricated silver nanoparticles were carried out using UV–vis spectrophotometry, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD analysis and HRTEM. In vitro cytotoxicity assays of mangrove fabricated silver nanoparticles was made in comparison with chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles on Vero cell lines. MTT assay was applied in order to investigate the cytotoxic nature of the mangrove fabricated and chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles. The concentration which caused 50 % cell death (CC50) was 18.79 ± 0.9 μg/mL in the cells treated with mangroves fabricated silver nanoparticles whereas chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles produced the same effect (i.e. 50 % cell death) at 8.96 ± 0.8 μg/mL. Results showed that the mangrove-fabricated silver nanoparticles was more biocompatible when compared with chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles, highlighting their promising potential as nanocarriers in pharmacology and nanomedicine