Medical and cytotoxicity effects of green synthesized silver nanoparticles using <i>Achillea millefolium</i> extract on MOLT‐4 lymphoblastic leukemia cell line
Sorour Karimi, Mahnaz Mahdavi Shahri
Abstract
Abstract Green chemistry, which aims at the development of efficient methods for the synthesis of nanoparticles, is a relatively new emerging field of nanotechnology, which has economic and environment‐friendly benefits over chemical and physical processes. The present work was carried out to develop silver nanoparticles (Ag‐NPs) using the plant ( Achillea millefolium or yarrow) aqueous extract as both a reducing and capping agent under the green synthesis method. Characterization of synthesized Ag‐NPs was done using IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis). The UV–vis spectrum showed the maximum absorbance at around 440–470 nm, which suggested the formation of green synthesized Ag‐NPs. The morphological study demonstrated that the Ag‐NPs were spherical in shape with an average size of 22.4 ± 7.4 nm. The antimicrobial activities of Ag‐NPs against Fusarium and Aspergillus niger species of fungal and Escherichia coli species of bacteria were investigated through the disc diffusion and well‐diffusion method using their zone of inhibition. The cytotoxicity effect of Ag‐NPs on cell lines MOLT‐4 was evaluated by using MTT assay. These nanoparticles showed remarkable antimicrobial activity against bacterias and fungus in low concentration. The cytotoxicity studies showed that IC 50 of green synthesized Ag‐NPs was 0.011 µm in comparison to 1.8 for Cisplatin which more active than anticancer drug for MOLT‐4 cell line. The results showed that the green synthesized Ag‐NPs are expected to have notable applications and can be potentially useful in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.