Abstract
Based on the World Health Organisation estimates of 2015, cancer is the leading cause mortality and morbidity worldwide. The conventional methods that are currently used for treatment of cancer have various drawbacks and side effects. Gold nanoparticles have exceptional physiochemical properties that make them suitable alternative agents for treatment of cancer. Plant based AuNPs has gained interest because it implies the use of non-toxic and highly effective plant constituents. The present study aimed to synthesize and characterize AuNPs from hexane extract of Vitex doniana (VD) leaves and β-sitosterol (βS) compound and to investigate their in vitro anti-cancer activities against colon cancer cell lines (HT-29). The synthesized AuNPs were characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Transmission electron Microscopy (TEM), and Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The cytotoxicity of the synthesized AuNPs against HT-29 cells was determined using MTT assay. The absorption peaks at 560 nm were revealed by UV-Vis for both AuNPs. The average sizes by DLS were 59.03 nm for VD Hex-AuNPs and 50.29 nm for βS-AuNPs and the zeta potential values were -52.8 and -36.1. TEM revealed spherical βS-AuNPs with VD Hex-AuNPs showing spherical and hexagonal shapes. FTIR revealed that the synthesized AuNPs consist of various bonds and stretches. The cytotoxic effects of the synthesized AuNPs provide a solid evidence that these nanoparticles have significant anticancer activity against HT-29 colon cancer cell lines. Hence, the 24-hour IC50 values were 182.5 μg/mL for VD Hex-AuNPs and 270 μg/mL for βS-AuNPs. The results clearly indicate that biosynthesized AuNPs can be used as a potential alternative in cancer therapy. Furthermore, there is a need for continual research such as animal testing and clinical trials to establish their potential use.
M.Sc. (Nanoscience)