Ricerc@Sapienza

Nowadays, the interactions of metal nanoparticles with microorganisms and parasites of public health importance receive increasing attention due to their functional versatility and multipurpose effectiveness. In this research, green biosynthesis of antiviral silver nanomaterials was achieved allowing the reduction of Ag+ions by the aqueous leaf extract of mangrove Rhizophora lamarckii. The reduction of metal ions to metallic nanosilver occurred readily in the aqueous solution and resulted in high density of extremely stable and crystalline silver nanoparticles, with mean size ranging from 12 to 28 nm. Green-fabricated silver nanoparticles exhibit high HIV type 1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity, even when tested at low doses. In vitro, the mangrove-fabricated silver nanoparticles showed an IC50of 0.4 ?g/ml on the HIV-1 RTase. Overall, our results highlighted the promising potential of mangrove-synthesized metal nanoparticles in the fight against HIV and other viruses of public health importance.