Synthesize palladium nanoparticles from the macroalgae Sargassum fusiforme: An eco-friendly tool in the fight against Plasmodium falciparum?

Although numerous drugs are practiced to control malaria and its vectors, more recently, eco-friendly control tools have been proposed to battle its etiologic agents. Thus, using green bionanotechnology approaches, we aimed to synthesize palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) from the macroalgae Sargassum fusiforme (Sf), its potential antiparasitic activity against P. falciparum, as well as its possible cytotoxicity, in HeLa cells. After the biosynthesis of the PdSf NPs, their characterization was carried out by UV-Vis, FESEM, and EDX analyses, and their hydrodynamic size, zeta potential, and surface area were determined. Furthermore, the functional groups of the PdSf NPs were analyzed by FT-IR and GC-MS. While PdSf NPs had an IC50 of 7.68 μg/mL (Chloroquine (CQ)-s) and 16.42 μg/mL, S. fusiforme extract had an IC50 of 14.38 μg/mL (CQ-s) and 35.27 μg/mL (CQ-r). With an IC50 value of 94.49 μg/mL, PdSf NPs exhibited the least toxic effect on the HeLa cells. The Lipinski rule of five and ADMET prediction were used to assess the in silico models of caffeine acid hexoside and quercetin 7-O-hexoside for the presence of drug-like properties. Pathogenic proteins, primarily responsible for motility, binding, and disease-causing, were the target of the structurally based docking studies between plant-derived compounds and pathogenic proteins. Thus, our study pioneered promising results that support the potential antiplasmodial activity of eco-friendly synthesized PdSf NPs using S. fusiforme extract against P. falciparum, opening perspectives for further exploration into the use of these NPs in malaria therapy.