title: Seaweed-synthesized silver nanoparticles: an eco-friendly tool in the fight against Plasmodium falciparum and its vector Anopheles stephensi?
abstract: Malaria, the most widespread mosquito-borne disease, affects 350-500 million people each year. Eco-friendly control tools against malaria vectors are urgently needed. This research proposed a novel method of plant-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) using a cheap seaweed extract of Ulva lactuca, acting as a reducing and capping agent. AgNP were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The U. lactuca extract and the green-synthesized AgNP were tested against larvae and pupae of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. In mosquitocidal assays, LC50 values of U. lactuca extract against A. stephensi larvae and pupae were 18.365 ppm (I instar), 23.948 ppm (II), 29.701 ppm (III), 37.517 ppm (IV), and 43.012 ppm (pupae). LC50 values of AgNP against A. stephensi were 2.111 ppm (I), 3.090 ppm (II), 4.629 ppm (III), 5.261 ppm (IV), and 6.860 ppm (pupae). Smoke toxicity experiments conducted against mosquito adults showed that U. lactuca coils evoked mortality rates comparable to the permethrin-based positive control (66, 51, and 41%, respectively). Furthermore, the antiplasmodial activity of U. lactuca extract and U. lactuca-synthesized AgNP was evaluated against CQ-resistant (CQ-r) and CQ-sensitive (CQ-s) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Fifty percent inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of U. lactuca were 57.26 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 66.36 μg/ml (CQ-r); U. lactuca-synthesized AgNP IC50 values were 76.33 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 79.13 μg/ml (CQ-r). Overall, our results highlighted out that U. lactuca-synthesized AgNP may be employed to develop newer and safer agents for malaria control.
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Kadarkarai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murugan
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Christina Mary
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Samidoss
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Chellasamy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Panneerselvam
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproduction, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan.
authors.forename: Akon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Higuchi
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Mathath
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roni
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Udaiyan
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Suresh
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Balamurugan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chandramohan
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Jayapal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Subramaniam
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Pari
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Madhiyazhagan
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Devakumar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dinesh
authors.affiliation: Division of Entomology, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641 046, India.
authors.forename: Rajapandian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rajaganesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdullah A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alarfaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Protection, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuzhou, 350013, Fujian, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Canale
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mehlhorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italy. g.benelli@sssup.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D007306:Insecticides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000502:physiology; D011679:Pupa / Q000187:drug effects; D012624:Seaweed / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D044445:Ulva / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D012834:Silver
keywords: Culicidae; Malaria; Mosquito-borne diseases; Nanotechnologies; Smoke toxicity; Ulva lactuca