Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Antibacterial Activity of Green Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles using Hedera helix extract.

Nowadays, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have drawn significant interest due to their unique properties, making them advantageous in biomedical applications, sensors, antimicrobial agents, catalysts, and optical fibers. Green synthesis is the safest and easiest method for producing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of silver nanoparticles synthesized using aqueous extracts of Hedera helix (AHE) against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and A549 lung cancer cell lines. Silver nanoparticles (Hh-AgNPs) were synthesized using the aqueous extracts of Hedera helix (AHE) as a reducing agent and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a stabilizer and characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometry and particle size analysis via dynamic light scattering (DLS). The silver nanoparticles (Hh-AgNPs) were successfully synthesized, showing maximum absorption at 448 nm, with enhanced cytotoxic activity against A549 lung cancer cell lines (IC₅₀ = 15.16 µg/ml) and antibacterial activity against S. aureus (MIC = 0.156 mg/ml) and P. aeruginosa (MIC = 0.3125 mg/ml), compared to AHE alone. Biological methods are cost-effective and eco-friendly and thus can serve as an economical and efficient alternative for the large-scale synthesis of silver nanoparticles.