Comparative studies on antibacterial, antibiofilm, antioxidant, and cytotoxicity properties of chemically and Paeonia lactiflora extract-assisted synthesized silver nitroprusside nanoparticles

This work investigates the antioxidant, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities of chemically synthesized silver nitroprusside nanoparticles (AgNP NPs) and compares them to water extract of Paeonia lactiflora (PLWE) assisted synthesized AgNP NPs (PLWE-AgNP NPs). The green synthesized PLWE-AgNP NPs had a particle size of 316.93 ± 0.86 (d. nm) with a zeta potential of −30.2 ± 0.62 (mV). Besides, the Ag and Fe content of PLWE-AgNP NPs was 4.04 ± 0.18 μg/mg and 101.18 ± 0.28 μg/mg, respectively determined by ICP-MS. Further, the high total phenol (14.5 mg gallic acid (GA)/g DW) and flavonoids (6.92 mg quercetin (QE)/g DW) content of PLWE anticipated to significantly augmented the bioactivity of AgNP NPs. Consequently, both PLWE-AgNP NPs and AgNP NPs displayed notable bacterial growth inhibition at a concentration of 6.25 μg/mL, with PLWE-AgNP NPs outperforming AgNP NPs in inhibiting the growth and biofilm formation of Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, PLWE-AgNP NPs exhibited enhanced radical scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS+ radicals, whereas AgNP NPs displayed minimal activity. Additionally, PLWE-AgNP NPs demonstrated low cytotoxicity toward NIH3T3 cells at <6.25 μg/mL. However, they significantly suppressed the viability of BT474 cancer cells by inducing the production of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, this study concludes that PLWE-assisted AgNP NPs may serve as a versatile material with various applications in the field of biomedicine.