Anticancer Activity of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Medicinal Animal Waste Extract on Mcf-7 Human Breast Cancer Cell Line

Abstract

Most recently, silver nanoparticles due to biological properties have been considered highly efficient in medical sciences. Among various methods to synthesize these nanoparticles, green synthesis methods are environment friendly, cost effective and nonhazardous for biomedical applications. So, the aim of the study was green synthesis of silver nanoparticles by use of medicinal animal dung extract as a reducing, capping and stabilizing agent for the first time among synthesis methods of silver nanoparticles. Female donkey’s dung called Anbarnesa in Persian culture as a medicinal matter was capable to reduce silver ions to nanoparticles and stabilize them. Silver nanoparticles of 36 nm were synthesized and characterized by UV-Vis, FT-IR, XRD and TEM. Moreover, synthesized nanoparticles were analyzed in terms of anticancer activity by MTT assay on MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. UV–Visible spectrophotometer showed absorbance peak in range of 414-433 nm. To identify the compounds responsible for reduction of silver ions, the functional groups present in Anbarnesa extract were investigated by FTIR. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of small spherical silver nanoparticles. The MTT assay revealed potent anticancer effects of the aqueous extract synthesized nanoparticles on MCF-7 cells with an after 24 hours incubation time. Based on the current findings, it is strongly believe that use of Anbarnesa offers large scale production of biocompatible silver nanoparticles that can be used as alternative anticancer agents against cancer cell lines tested.