Eco-Conscious Synthesis and Biomedical Profiling of Monometallic and Bimetallic Nanosystems for Targeted Drug...

This study presents the green biosynthesis, characterization and biomedical assessment of monometallic (gold, selenium and silver) and bimetallic (silver-selenium and silver-gold) green nano system with their drug conjugates using lychee seed extracts. UV-visible spectroscopy confirmed the nanostructure formation, with plasmon resonance peaks specific to each nanostructure. The spherical shape and crystalline character of the nanostructure, which ranged from 10 to 90 nm on average, were verified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis was used to verify the elemental composition. Among the synthesized nanoparticles, silver-selenium and silver-gold were selected for drug loading with 5-Fluorouracil, showing efficient encapsulation (55.07 ± 0.07% and 36.23 ± 0.09%, respectively) and sustained morphological integrity after drug incorporation. The IC₅₀ values of the green nanoparticles exhibited promising biocompatibility, indicating their safety attributes. Antioxidant assays revealed enhanced lipid peroxidation inhibition and radical scavenging activity, particularly in drug-loaded silver-selenium nanoparticles (IC₅₀:5.865 ± 1.0 mg/mL and 2.17 ± 0.9 mg/mL, respectively). There was a positive correlation (r = 0.947) between DPPH radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation inhibition and a negative correlation with hemolytic activity (r = -0.240), indicating that antioxidant efficacy is linked to biocompatibility. These results highlight the potential of green-synthesized bimetallic nano system with their drug conjugates as biocompatible antioxidant-rich carriers, supporting their future application in nanomedicine.