In vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity of green synthesized silver nanoparticles using Sargassum tenerrimum - a marine seaweed

•In vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity of green synthesized silver nanoparticles from Sargassum tenerrimum (Ag-ST) a marine seaweed was compared with chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP).•Ag-ST nanoparticles exhibited good antiplasmodial activity with IC50 values of 7.71 ± 0.39 µg/ml and 23.93 ± 2.27 µg/mL against P. falciparum and P. berghei, respectively.•In vitro and in vivo genotoxicological profiles revealed that the Ag-ST nanoparticles are non-genotoxic in nature.•Overall the study explained that the green synthesized silver nanoparticles could be a cutting-edge and alternative for therapeutic applications against various infectious diseases. Green nanotechnology has recently attracted a lot of attention as a potential technique for drug development. In the present study, silver nanoparticles were synthesised by using Sargassum tenerrimum, a marine seaweed crude extract (Ag-ST), and evaluated for antimalarial activity in both in vitro and in vivo models. The results showed that Ag-ST nanoparticles exhibited good antiplasmodial activity with IC50 values 7.71±0.39 µg/ml and 23.93±2.27 µg/ml against P. falciparum and P. berghei respectively. These nanoparticles also showed less haemolysis activity suggesting their possible use in therapeutics. Further, P. berghei infected C57BL/6 mice were used for the four-day suppressive, curative and prophylactic assays where it was noticed that the Ag-ST nanoparticles significantly reduced the parasitaemia and there were no toxic effects observed in the biochemical and haematological parameters. Further to understand its possible toxic effects, both in vitro and in vivo genotoxicological studies were performed which revealed that these nanoparticles are non-genotoxic in nature. The possible antimalarial activity of Ag-ST may be due to the presence of bioactive phytochemicals and silver ions. Moreover, the phytochemicals prevent the nonspecific release of ions responsible for low genotoxicity. Together, the bio-efficacy and toxicology outcomes demonstrated that the green synthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag-ST) could be a cutting-edge alternative for therapeutic applications. [Display omitted]