Green synthesis of Ag nanoparticles by methadone and their cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cells

Due to their fundamental applications in medicine, preparation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has recently improved using green technique. In this study, methadone syrup (ME) was used for preparing AgNPs as a reducing and stabilizing agent with the objective of in vitro cytotoxicity effect against human breast cancer cells. The characteristics of the prepared particles were investigated using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), UV-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and X-Ray Difraction (XRD) studies. AgNPs (about 18 nm) were synthesized in a spherical and uniform distribution. The mechanism of ME through the synthesis was proposed based on FT-IR analysis and Density Functional Theory (DFT). To investigate the cytotoxicity of the prepared AgNPs using ME, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was employed in the range of 0{100 gg/mL. As a function of its dosage, the green synthetic AgNPs exhibited anti-proliferative activities against MDA-MB-468 cells with respect to ME. The results pointed to the feasibility of producing AgNPs in a simple, rapid, and green manner using ME, which has an important function in inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cells.