Green nanotechnology as an innovative drug delivery approach for typha capensis and naringenin—new class of phytochemical embedded biocompatible gold nanoparticles in prostate cancer therap

Abstract

Naringenin, a flavone with a growing body of evidence as an anti-cancer agent, is found in Typha capensis, an indigenous South African plant commonly used in traditional medicine. However, despite favourable in vitro results, clinical usage of naringenin remains restricted due to notoriously poor oral bioavailability, rapid metabolism and poor tumour site availability. This study aimed to investigate a simple, easily reproduced, reliable and effective drug delivery method of mitigating these issues using green nanotechnology principles, and assess their biomedical applications in the treatment of prostate cancer. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized using green nanotechnology principles and characterized by spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy, and Folin-ciocalteu phenol assay.