In Vitro Antiviral Activity of Cinnamomum cassia and Its Nanoparticles Against H7N3 Influenza A Virus

Abstract

Nanoparticles have wide-scale applications in various areas, including medicine, chemistry, electronics, and energy generation. Several physical, biological, and chemical methods have been used for synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using plants provide advantages over other methods as it is easy, efficient, and eco-friendly. Nanoparticles have been extensively studied as potential antimicrobials to target pathogenic and multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Their applications recently extended to development of antivirals to inhibit viral infections. In this study, we synthesized silver nanoparticles using Cinnamomum cassia (Cinnamon) and evaluated their activity against highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H7N3. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UVVis absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Cinnamon bark extract and its nanoparticles were tested against H7N3 influenza A virus in Vero cells and the viability of cells was determined by tetrazolium dye (MTT) assay. The silver nanoparticles derived from Cinnamon extract enhanced the antiviral activity and were found to be effective in both treatments, when incubated with the virus prior to infection and introduced to cells after infection. In order to establish the safety profile, Cinnamon and its corresponding nanoparticles were tested for their cytotoxic effects in Vero cells. The tested concentrations of extract and nanoparticles (up to 500 μg/ml) were found non-toxic to Vero cells. The biosynthesized nanoparticles may, hence, be a promising approach to provide treatment against influenza virus infections.

Virucidal Activity of Gold Nanoparticles Synthesized by Green Chemistry Using Garlic Extract

“…Therefore, these cytotoxicity results could have been due to this precursor rather than the particles themselves. Low cytotoxicity is one of the most important requirements for any potential antiviral agent; Fatima et al described the non-toxicity (CC 50 > 500 µg/mL) of synthesized green nanoparticles and their precursors tested in the same way by the MTT assay on Vero cells [20]. Cagno et al also reported the lack of significant toxicity at similar concentrations (CC 50 ≥ 100-300 µg/mL) of gold NPs coated with undecanesulfonic acid (MUS)-containing ligands and their pre-MUS ligand [21].…”

The evaluation of toxicological effects of cinnamon nanoparticles by histopathological examination

“…One of the important areas in the field of medicine is to evaluate the effects of nanoparticles for the treatment of viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infection with particular focus on the multidrug-resistant pathogens. In one study, the nanoparticle from cinnamon has been found effective as an antiviral agent against the H7N3 influenza A virus in the Vero cells without any toxic effects on these cells [10]. Another important area is the prevention of cancers and many other diseases which are associated with the increased production of free radicles.…”

Green Silver Nanoparticles: Novel Therapeutic Potential for Cancer and Microbial Infections

“…It is important to mention that despite a wide variety of studies existing in the literature, antimicrobial activity has generally been evaluated in the same microorganisms even though there is a large amount of bacteria, fungi and viruses of clinical importance that could be studied. Also, when existing studies are analyzed (Table 1), most suggest that biosynthesized silver nanoparticles are biocompatible and may have therapeutic use potential in humans; however, if we review the studies summarized in Table 1 very few carry out biocompatibility tests in normal cells [8,10,14,15,18,26,27]. These tests provide crucial information on the ranges of safety and cytotoxicity of the biosynthetized nanoparticles, information that result fundamental to can be designed future experiments with biomedical applications in preclinical and clinical models.…”

“…As shown in Table 1 [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27], the antimicrobial effect of the green silver nanoparticles, mainly their antibacterial [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] and antifungal action [10,[12][13][14]17,18,[23][24][25], has been widely reported. It is important to mention that despite a wide variety of studies existing in the literature, antimicrobial activity has generally been evaluated in the same microorganisms even though there is a large amount of bacteria, fungi and viruses of clinical importance that could be studied.…”

“…These tests provide crucial information on the ranges of safety and cytotoxicity of the biosynthetized nanoparticles, information that result fundamental to can be designed future experiments with biomedical applications in preclinical and clinical models. Another important fact is about the physical nature of the nanoparticles with respect to their size, most of the studies obtained nanoparticles with sizes greater than 10 nm in diameter [8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]; it would be interesting to know their effects with sizes smaller than 10 nm since there is evidence that their biological effects also dependent on size [28]. Furthermore, for a better comparative analysis of the therapeutic potential of green silver nanoparticles, it is important to include in future experiments reference drugs that are currently the most used and effective in antimicrobial therapy in humans (cephalosporins, quinolones, and macrolides) [29], since most studies existing do not include used-commercial drugs as control [8][9]11,[13][14][15][16]18,[20][21] or it is included drugs used in the past.…”