Pharmacological evaluation and kinetics of in vitro drug release efficacy of biofabricated silver nanoparticles using medicinally important Justicia neesii Ramamoorthy

Green nanotechnology, the science that utilizes various plant resources for the synthesis of nanoparticles without posing any chemical hazard has proved to be highly efficient and environment friendly technique. This opens up options for the synthesis of novel nanoparticles with desirable characteristics required for various application viz., biosensors, biomedicine, cosmetics, nanobiotechnology, as antimicrobials, electronics, sensing etc. In this context, here, we have made an attempt for cost effective and eco-friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the extract of medicinally important plant Justicia neesii Ramamoorthy. The phytochemical analysis of the extract exhibited the presence of glycosides, flavonoids, lignins, phenols, phytosterols, reducing sugars, saponins, etc. The absorbance peak of the biofabricated nanoparticles at 425 nm as indicated by UV-Vis spectrophotometer broadens with increase in time indicating their poly dispersity nature and particle size analyzer revealed the average size to be in the range of 20-45 nm. The antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the synthesized AgNPs demonstrated promising results. The kinetics of in vitro drug release profile of the drug loaded AgNPs was carried out and the data obtained was correlated with various mathematical models. The drug release from AgNPs at both the pH’s shows good fit to the First order model which is obvious from the high values of coefficient of correlation which logically means that the release of drug from AgNPs is dependent on the concentration present within the nanoparticles.