Novel Arsenic Nanoparticles Are More Effective and Less Toxic than As (III) to Inhibit Extracellular and Intracellular Proliferation ofLeishmania donovani

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis, a vector-borne tropical disease that is threatening about 350 million people worldwide, is caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. Metalloids like arsenic and antimony have been used to treat diseases like leishmaniasis caused by the kinetoplastid parasites. Arsenic (III) at a relatively higher concentration (30 μg/mL) has been shown to have antileishmanial activity, but this concentration is reported to be toxic in several experimental mammalian systems. Nanosized metal (0) particles have been shown to be more effective than their higher oxidation state forms. There is no information so far regarding arsenic nanoparticles (As-NPs) as an antileishmanial agent. We have tested the antileishmanial properties of the As-NPs, developed for the first time in our laboratory. As-NPs inhibited the in vitro growth, oxygen consumption, infectivity, and intramacrophage proliferation of L. donovani parasites at a concentration which is about several fold lower than that of As (III). Moreover, this antileishmanial activity has comparatively less cytotoxic effect on the mouse macrophage cell line. It is evident from our findings that As-NPs have more potential than As (III) to be used as an antileishmanial agent.

Controlled preparation of arsenic nanoparticles

“…Such prepared As NPs have been recognised as having promising potential in nanomedicine. Previous studies revealed their ability to act against cancer cells (Subastri et al 2018) and parasites (Chakraborty et al 2014), similar to the As compounds previously mentioned. The efficiencies of As NPs and arsenic trioxide were compared via half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) in breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 and in human embryonic kidney cell line HEK-293.…”

Samarium Polyarsenides Derived from Nanoscale Arsenic

“…Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of the as‐prepared As 0 Nano shows uniform, spherical nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 7.2±1.8 nm (Figure , Figure S3). Interestingly, the obtained nanoparticles are significantly smaller than those prepared in aqueous media (>30 nm) ,. Lattice fringes throughout the nanoparticle indicate their crystallinity.…”

“…It should be noted that many different synthetic routes towards nanoparticles have been reported, including those for arsenic nanoparticles stemming from, e.g.,As 2 O 3 . [22] However,t hey often require the use of protic solvents or surfactants,which are incompatible with the requirements of organometallic f-element chemistry performed in the next step.T hus,s urfactant-, proton-and oxygen-free procedures have to be applied and/or developed. Even our approach [10] towards nanoscale antimony Sb 0 nano (reduction of SbCl 3 with 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)-1,4-diaza-2,5-cyclohexadiene) [11] could not be successfully transferred to arsenic.…”

Eco-Friendly Synthesis of some Novel Metal Nanoparticles Mediated by Ocimum Basilicum-Lamiaceae ( Thiru Neetru Pathilai) Leaves Extract

“…These AlNPs were thoroughly characterized. There was an color change [40] after the addition of OBL leaves extract to the arsenic acid solution. The solution was centrifuged and the supernatant was discarded and the pellet was washed with double distilled water and was centrifuged again to remove any impurities.…”