Vinca minor and Chelidonium majus as reducing angents for Ag- MnO2 nanoparticle synthesis

Abstract

Medicinal plants play an important role in the so called “green chemistry” wave, where metal nanoparticles with high therapeutic properties are obtained. Material and methods. Three types of Ag-MnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were obtained using Vinca minor and Chelidonium majus plant extracts. The NPs were characterized through scanning and transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM), Fourier-Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Their medicinal potential was assessed against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, Candida albicans fungi, normal keratinocytes (HaCaT), and skin melanoma (A375) cells, through biochemical and electron microscopy techniques. Results. The NPs had polygonal shapes and were uniformly distributed, with crystalline structures and different sizes (from 9.3 nm to 32.4 nm). The NPs synthesized in the presence of V. minor extract inhibited the development of both microbes and cancer cells taken into account. The antimicrobial effect tested through agar well diffusion method showed an inhibitory capacity of the V. minor synthesized NPs of almost 16 mm. The viability of A375 cells was reduced to 38.8% while a moderate cytotoxic effect was observed on HaCaT (46.4%) cells at concentrations above 500 µg/mL. At the same concentrations, NPs synthesized with C. majus had a rather proliferative effect, whereas the NPs synthesized with extract mix (1:1, v/v) negatively affected both cell lines. Conclusions. The C. majus and V. minor extracts can form small and uniformly distributed Ag-MnO2 NPs with high potential for selective treatments and can be used for various biomedical applications.