Phytofabrication and characterization of Alchornea cordifolia silver nanoparticles and evaluation of antiplasmodial, hemocompatibility and larvicidal potential

The recent emergence of ( ) parasites resistant to current artemisinin-based combination therapies in Africa justifies the need to develop new strategies for successful malaria control. We synthesized, characterized and evaluated medical applications of optimized silver nanoparticles using (AC-AgNPs), a plant largely used in African and Asian traditional medicine. Fresh leaves of were used to prepare aqueous crude extract, which was mixed with silver nitrate for AC-AgNPs synthesis and optimization. The optimized AC-AgNPs were characterized using several techniques including ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), scanning/transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Zeta potential. Thereafter, AC-AgNPs were evaluated for their hemocompatibility and antiplasmodial activity against malaria strains 3D7 and RKL9. Finally, lethal activity of AC-AgNPs was assessed against mosquito larvae of , and which are vectors of neglected diseases such as dengue, filariasis and chikungunya. The AC-AgNPs were mostly spheroidal, polycrystalline (84.13%), stable and polydispersed with size of 11.77 ± 5.57 nm. FTIR revealed the presence of several peaks corresponding to functional chemical groups characteristics of alkanoids, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenols, steroids, anthraquonones and saponins. The AC-AgNPs had a high antiplasmodial activity, with IC of 8.05 μg/mL and 10.31 μg/mL against 3D7 and RKL9 strains. Likewise, high larvicidal activity of AC-AgNPs was found after 24 h- and 48 h-exposure: LC = 18.41 μg/mL and 8.97 μg/mL ( ), LC = 16.71 μg/mL and 7.52 μg/mL ( ) and LC = 10.67 μg/mL and 5.85 μg/mL ( ). The AC-AgNPs were highly hemocompatible (HC > 500 μg/mL). In worrying context of resistance of parasite and mosquitoes, green nanotechnologies using plants could be a cutting-edge alternative for drug/insecticide discovery and development.