Abstract
This work investigates the sustainable route for the preparation of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) from Piper betle leaf extract via the green synthesis route. The unique physico-chemical properties of synthesized P-CuO NPs was characterized by XRD, FTIR, UV-visible spectroscopy, TEM and EDAX and DLS. The synthesized P-CuO NPs mostly were in spherical shape with crystalline nature and their sizes range from 80 to 102 nm. The P-CuO NPs showed appreciable antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity against MDR strains such as E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity activities of P-CuO NPs were examined using the MTT assay on human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells and the IC50 was found at 36.11 +/- 2.73 mu g/mL. In addition, the intrinsic apoptotic pathway was detected by live and dead cell assays like LDH, caspase-3 activation, ROS, DAPI, AO/EtBr and MMP. Finally, the green synthesized P-CuO NPs had a lower hemolysis activity at 4.72% when compared to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) range of <5%, which indicates that the synthesized NPs were more hemocompatible. Overall, the findings of this study revealed that P-CuO NPs could be used as an alternative therapeutic agent to cure microbial infection and breast cancer in humans.