Green synthesis of copper nanoparticles using strawberry leaves and study of properties, anti-cancer action, and activity against bacteria isolated from Covid-19 patients

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 caused by coronavirus 2 is responsible for SARS that led to the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recent studies have demonstrated a high correlation between secondary bacterial infections and worse outcomes and death in COVID-19 patients. The extensive use of medicines during the last SARS-CoV epidemic led to an increase in the prevalence of multi-drug-resistant germs. Nanoparticles have important characteristics and applications in health, industry, and applied fields, etc. In medical fields, they curb and stop antibiotic-resistant diseases and pathogens. In this study, strawberry leaf extract was used to synthesize copper nanoparticles. The benefits of copper nanoparticles in inhibiting the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and S. aureus bacteria isolated from COVID-19 patients' sputum were tested using the agar well diffusion method. P. aeruginosa and S. aureus bacteria play a significant part in the series of bacterial infections that arise with COVID-19 infection. (1 ml) of strawberry leaf extract was mixed with (50 ml) of copper chloride solution prepared at a concentration of 2 mM at room temperature. The mixture was blended for 7 h to produce copper nanoparticles with a concentration of 2 mM as a stock solution in an environment-friendly manner. The first indication of the production of copper nanoparticles was the increase in the color intensity of the mixture after 7 h. The nanoparticles were detected using UV spectrophotometers, and a scanning electron microscope SEM, XRD, FTIR, and UV-VIS spectral, which appeared at the absorbance of two absorptive peaks, namely: 299 and 804 nm. UV-VIS spectral examination was conducted after a month and was very intense. It also showed two absorbance peaks (300 and 805 nm) with increasing intensity. This is evidence of the insolubility of the nanomaterial and its stability over the month. The scanning electron microscopy results showed that the dimensions of the prepared copper nanoparticles ranged between (46.59 and 58.82 nm). The production of copper nanoparticles in this inexpensive and environmentally friendly biological way has given excellent results in inhibiting the growth of bacteria isolated from COVID-19 patients. The effectiveness of copper nanoparticles was tested against cancerous cells isolated from laryngeal carcinoma, called HeP-2, of a 60-year-old man. The concentration of 50% of the copper nanoparticle solution, which is equivalent to 0.5 mM, gave an inhibition rate of 44.081% in cell cultures. Its effect was compared with the sensitivity of the normal cell line of liver cells (WRL-68);the concentration of 50%, which is equivalent to 0.5 mM, gave an inhibition rate of 5.997% in cell cultures, which showed a good affinity for copper nanoparticles. From this, we conclude that the copper nanoparticles were more effective in inhibiting cancerous cell lines than the normal ones. © 2023 University of Kerbala.