Phytogenic Synthesis of Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles (NiO) Using Fresh Leaves Extract of Rhamnus triquetra (Wall.) and Investigation of Its Multiple In Vitro Biological Potentials

Javed Iqbal; Banzeer Ahsan Abbasi; Riaz Ahmad; Mahboobeh Mahmoodi; Akhtar Munir; Syeda Anber Zahra; Amir Shahbaz; Muzzafar Shaukat; Sobia Kanwal; Siraj Uddin; Tariq Mahmood; Raffaele Capasso

doi:10.3390/biomedicines8050117

Phytogenic Synthesis of Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles (NiO) Using Fresh Leaves Extract of Rhamnus triquetra (Wall.) and Investigation of Its Multiple In Vitro Biological Potentials

Biomedicines. 2020 May 12;8(5):117. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines8050117.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
² College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xian 710119, China.
³ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd 8915813135, Iran.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, SBA School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), DHA, Lahore 54792, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Zoology, University of Gujrat, Sub-Campus Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan.
⁶ Plant Breeding Institute, Faculty of Agriculture & Environment, University of Sydney, Cobbitty, NSW 2570, Australia.
⁷ Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80055 Portici, Italy.

Abstract

Chemically nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiONPs) involve the synthesis of toxic products, which restrict their biological applications. Hence, we developed a simple, eco-friendly, and cost-efficient green chemistry method for the fabrication of NiONPs using fresh leaf broth of Rhamnus triquetra (RT). The RT leaves broth was used as a strong reducing, capping, and stabilizing agent in the formation of RT-NiONPs. The color change in solution from brown to greenish black suggests the fabrication of RT-NiONPs which was further confirmed by absorption band at 333 nm. The synthesis and different physicochemical properties of RT-NiONPs were investigated using different analytical techniques such as UV-Vis (ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy), XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), FT-IR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), EDS (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), DLS (dynamic light scattering) and Raman. Further, RT-NiONPs were subjected to different in vitro biological activities and revealed distinctive biosafe and biocompatibility potentials using erythrocytes and macrophages. RT-NiONPs exhibited potential anticancer activity against liver cancer cell lines HUH7 (IC₅₀: 11.3 µg/mL) and HepG2 (IC₅₀: 20.73 µg/mL). Cytotoxicity potential was confirmed using Leishmanial parasites promastigotes (IC₅₀: 27.32 µg/mL) and amastigotes (IC₅₀: 37.4 µg/mL). RT-NiONPs are capable of rendering significant antimicrobial efficacy using various bacterial and fungal strains. NiONPs determined potent radical scavenging and moderate enzyme inhibition potencies. Overall, this study suggested that RT-NiONPs can be an attractive and eco-friendly candidate. In conclusion, current study showed potential in vitro biological activities and further necessitate different in vivo studies in various animal models to develop leads for new drugs to treat several chronic diseases.

Keywords: NiONPs; Rhamnus triquetra; antimicrobial; biocompatibility; cytotoxicity; enzyme inhibition.