Green synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles from Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract: study of antioxidant and anticancer activities

The present study reports the biological synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles from Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract and their in vitro free radical scavenging efficacy as well as antiproliferative effect in Hep2 cells. The formation of silver (GYAgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (GYAuNPs) was confirmed by UV–visible spectroscopy. The average size of synthesized GYAgNPs and GYAuNPs was found to be 33 and 26 nm, respectively, by DLS particle size analyzer. TEM analysis indicated spherical shape of GYAgNPs and GYAuNPs and in EDX analysis they produced strong signal for silver and gold, respectively. Both GYAgNPs and GYAuNPs exhibited strong in vitro free radical quenching ability and their activity was comparable to that of GYLE. The cytotoxic effect of GYAgNPs and GYAuNPs in Hep2 cells was examined by MTT assay in which GYAgNPs displayed an IC50 value of 121 µg ml−1, while GYAuNPs produced up to 38 % of inhibition at the maximum concentration of 250 µg ml−1 used in this study. Distinct morphological changes were observed in Hep2 cells following treatment with GYAgNPs and GYAuNPs at 24 h, and orange-colored apoptotic bodies were located by acridine orange and ethidium bromide double-staining technique. Also, there was increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species in treated cells as indicated by 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin diacetate staining. Further, nuclear changes like chromatin condensation/fragmentation were also observed by propidium iodide and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dilactate staining methods. These findings support that the antiproliferative effects of GYAgNPs and GYAuNPs in Hep2 cells are mediated through induction of apoptosis.