ISSN print edition: 0366-6352
ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075
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Biological activities of iron oxide-based magnetic nanoparticles

Nadiya N. Patel, Vishwajeet M. Khot, and Raghunath S. Patil

Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, D. Y. Patil Education Society (Deemed to be University), Kolhapur, India

Received: 6 December 2023 Accepted: 5 February 2024

Abstract:

The anticancer and antibacterial potential of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles have been investigated using different biological assays. Also, an induction heating study was performed to check the magnetic hyperthermia application of synthesized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. An antimicrobial study was performed against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. Among them, the Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strain showed maximum antimicrobial activity with a 15 mm zone of inhibition for 500 µg/mL of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The antioxidant activity was ascertained through a DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2, picryl-hydrazyl) assay. Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles showed 30.57% free radical scavenging activity due to its antioxidative nature. The anticancer potential of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles was evaluated against the breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines and fibroblast (L929) cell line using 3-(4, 5-dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) cytotoxicity assay. Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles proved to be toxic to the MDA-MB-231 cell line even at a concentration of 3.125 µg mL⁻¹, and an increase in cytotoxicity to 89% from 20% was observed with the rise in Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles concentration to 100 µg mL⁻¹. The observed cytotoxicity for the L929 cell line is low revealing the biocompatible nature of synthesized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. Also, the biocompatibility for invitro application was examined using angiogenesis activity which does not show any antiangiogenics activity of synthesized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. Additionally, the inductive heating characteristic of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles in an alternating current (AC) magnetic field was examined at a frequency of 278 kHz, and for the different magnetic fields of 13.3, 20.0, and 26.7 kA m⁻¹ for 600 s with different suspension concentrations of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 5.0 mg mL⁻¹. The highest rise in temperature of 60.63 °C was observed for 5 mg mL⁻¹ at a magnetic field of 26.7 kA m⁻¹ with a specific absorption rate (SAR) value of 85 Wg⁻¹ which makes them suitable for hyperthermia application. The study shows promising antimicrobial, antioxidative, anticancer, and induction heating properties. Herein, the present study reveals the potential of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles for improved therapeutic applications and effective bactericidal propensity.

Graphical abstract

Keywords: Anticancer activity; Antimicrobial; Antioxidant; Biological activities; CAM assay; Magnetic hyperthermia; Superparamagnetic nanoparticles

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-024-03358-w

Chemical Papers 78 (6) 3857–3869 (2024)