Biosynthesized Colloidal Silver and Gold Nanoparticles As Emerging Leishmanicidal Agents: an Insight

Abstract

Many recent key innovations in nanotechnology have greatly fascinated scientists to explore new avenues in treatment and diagnosis of emerging diseases. Due to extensive utilization of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) in diverse biomedical applications, scientists are looking forward to green synthesis of NPs as safer, simple, fast, and low-cost method over chemical and physical methods. Due to enriched phytochemistry, no need for maintenance and ready availability, plants are preferred for green synthesis of silver (AgNPs) and gold NPs (AuNPs). Recently, several researchers have exploited these biogenic NPs as potential antileishmanial agents. The current article is focused to mechanistically explain the antileishmanial activity of biogenic AuNPs and AgNPs with a futuristic discussion on the faith of these particles as emerging antileishmanial agents.

<p>Synthesis, characterization, and mechanistic studies of a gold nanoparticle–amphotericin B covalent conjugate with enhanced antileishmanial efficacy and reduced cytotoxicity</p>

“…Biosynthesized GNPs, AgNPs, and Au–Ag bimetallic NPs were used for control of biofilm 6,7. As antileishmanial agents, bothAgNPs and GNPs have shown promising results.8 GNP-based delivery of small molecules or drugs,9 peptides,10 nucleic acids,11 and antimicrobial agents12 has shown improved efficacy due to targeted delivery of the payload. GNP-based drug delivery is popular due to ease of GNP functionalization with antimicrobial agents,13 biological or chemical methods of synthesis,14 controlled drug delivery,15 and multiple targets of bactericidal action with their ability to penetrate biological membranes.16 Here, we report the synthesis, characterization, and efficacy of GL-AmB, a covalent conjugate of GNP with amphotericin B (AmB) against parasite Leishmania donovani (LD).…”

“…AmB derivatives with modified functional groups showed more enhanced and specific binding toward fungal ergosterol than cholesterol35 with increased ion channel and fungicidal activity.36 Therefore, treatment with a combination of NPs with AmB and/or AmB derivatives could be a very effective strategy for improving the efficacy of and reducing the cytotoxicity of AmB. AmB nanoemulsions against experimental VL37,38 and AmB coated with polymeric NPs had shown efficacy in oral delivery of AmB in a mouse model of VL.39 Photo-induced antileishmanial activity was observed with AmB-AgNPs which were synthesized using plant phytochemicals.40 Improved photodynamic therapy was observed for GNP-conjugated nanorods over nanospheres, indicating the imporatance of NP shape in efficacy.41 Although there are growing developments of NPs as antileishmanial agents,8,28,42 there is no report yet about covalent conjugation or functionalization of GNPs with AmB or AmB derivatives for enhanced efficacy against LD. Leishmaniasis, the second largest infectious disease after malaria and one of the “most neglected” diseases, is spread by 23 Leishmania species in more than 98 countries.…”

Daphne mucronata-mediated phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and their novel biological applications, compatibility and toxicity studies

“…Among them, the plant-derived chemical entities have been mostly studied (2). The interface of Nanoscience and medicinal plants has been recently explored for fabricating Nanoscale materials (3)(4)(5)(6). Medicinal plants have rich phytochemistry, providing an exciting opportunity to fabricate nanomaterial of interest with novel shapes and properties.…”

Phytochemical, in-vitro biological and chemo-preventive profiling of Arisaema jacquemontii Blume tuber extracts

“…The polar solvents tended to extract at higher rate probably due to the presence of polar phytochemicals that are radically available in the water environment (the most powerful polar solvent). It has also been postulated that highly delocalized electrons make most of the plant components highly polarized [19].…”