Evaluation of Anticancer and Anti-bacterial Effects of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized by Origanum majoranaL. Extract on Cancer Cells MCF-7, HeLa and A549

Abstract

Origanum majorana L. is an annual, sometimes biennial herbaceous plant with straight stems and oval opposite branches and leaves. This plant is useful in traditional medicine and is used to treat gastrointestinal diseases, rheumatism and infections. This research investigated the antimicrobial effects and toxicity of Silver nanoparticles synthesized using the extract of the medicinal plant O. majorana L., on 3 cancer cell lines such as A549, MCF-7, and HeLa. Silver nanoparticles Silver nanoparticles were biologically synthesized using the extract of O. majorana. After physical and chemical evaluation, the antimicrobial properties of the synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Finally, the inhibitory effect of synthesized nanoparticles was assessed by the MTT assay on 3 cancer cell lines. With an average size of 15 nm, the nanoparticles synthesized by O. majorana extract had a significant inhibitory and lethal effect on 2 bacteria. The anti-cancer effect of the synthesized nanoparticles was on all 3 cell lines. However, with increasing the concentration of nanoparticles on the survival of cancer cells decreased, indicating a direct dose interaction on the inhibitory rate of silver nanoparticles. At a concentration of 50 g/mL, the synthesized Silver nanoparticles showed more than 50% inhibitory effect on different cell lines. Our results demonstrate that medicinal plants can be used in the successful synthesis of biological Silver nanoparticles. The synthesized AgNPs can be utilized as effective medicinal agents in the management of several cancers due to their coating made of effective secondary metabolites and the release of silver ions (Ag⁺).