BAOBAB EXTRACT WITH ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLES FOR TARGETED TREATMENT FOR LIVER CANCER

Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is presently one of the most common and most deadly malignancies in the world, and it has a poor prognosis and a limited number of treatment strategies. Conventional treatment usually has serious side effects and resistance. The current study was designed to compare the effectiveness of Adansonia digitata L. (baobab) fruit extract as a green biosynthetic agent, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnNPs@BF) and to determines potential anticancer activity on liver cancer. Methods: ZnO nanoparticle synthesis was performed using the baobab extract as a natural reducing and stabilizing agent. The phytochemical content of baobab, the process involved in nanoparticle fabrication, and the physicochemical characteristics of ZnNPs@BF were established. An overview of the in vitro studies on cytotoxicity was provided, with particular focus on the comparison of liver cancer cells to normal ones. Results: The synthesized ZnNPs@BF by the green approach showed excellent properties with a homogeneous hexagonal structure and an average crystallite size of 33 nm using FESM and XRD techniques. These unique properties have been exploited to assess the ZnNPs@BF anti-cancer activity. The anti-cancer test revealed that ZnNPshave potent dose-dependent cytotoxicity against HCAM liver cancer cells with IC50 of 1.45 μg/ml and showed no cytotoxicity with normal HBL-100 cells. These findings highlight that ZnNPs@BF can play a crucial role as a promising, effective, and selective anti-cancer nanomaterial with other biomedical potential applications. Conclusion: The zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnNPs@BF) prepared from baobab extract are a safe, environmentally friendly, and effective method for delivering drugs to liver cancer cells. However, based on the obtained results, further preclinical and clinical research is needed to confirm their use and translate them into clinical applications.