In vitro assessment of anti-glioblastoma potential of Emblica officinalis methanolic fruit extract and green nanoparticles in U87-MG cells.

Background: Plant-derived and other natural products are gaining attention due to wide therapeutic properties, specifically being looked for development of alternative therapeutic intervention for cancers. Phyllanthus emblica, also called Emblica officinalis, is well known for its abundance of phytochemicals and therapeutic uses since ancient times, and reports suggest its anticancer properties. However, no studies are conducted for brain cancers.

Aim: The current study aims to evaluate the anti-brain cancer property of E. officinalis and to enhance the potency of selected extracts by development of green silver nanoparticles (AgNPs).

Methodology and results: The Methanolic, Ethanolic, and Aqueous extracts of E. officinalis (M-EOE, E-EOE, and A-EOE) were obtained, followed by measuring total phenolic content and DPPH analysis. The results presented M-EOE with the highest presence of phenolic compounds, as supported by GC-MS. MTT assays showed dose-dependent antiproliferative potential of these extracts against U87-MG, where methanolic extract exhibited the lowest IC₅₀ value. Wound scratch assay further showed antimigratory potential, with lowest gap closure observed in methanolic extract. Further, methanolic extract of E. officinalis was used to synthesize AgNPs followed by characterization using particle-size analyzer, zeta potential, FTIR, and SEM-based analysis. Characterization methods revealed the synthesis of stable nanoparticles with size ranging from 52.56 to 96.18 nm. Further, these M-EOE AgNPs showed superior cytotoxicity, with an IC₅₀ value of 183.1 µg/mL, and antimigratory effects as compared to parent M-EOE extract.

Conclusion: The current study thus suggests that E. officinalis extracts and derived nanoparticles may have the potential to be exploited as anti-brain cancer therapeutics and should be evaluated further by detailed mechanistic studies.