Abstract:
Malaria remains a decisive problem for public health due to the emergence and spread of
Plasmodium falciparum strains resistant to chemical drug all over the world. There is an
insistent to investigate new and valuable sources of antimalarial drugs. This research fabricated
a novel method of mushroom-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) using a cheap
mushroom extract of Marasmius oreades, acting as a reducing and capping agent. AgNP were
characterized by UV–vis spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy,
energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In mosquitocidal
assays, LC50 of M.oreades mushroom extract against Anopheles stephensi ranged from 50.0 (larva
I) to 110.1 ppm (pupa). LC50 of M.oreades -synthesized AgNP ranged from 3.917 (larva I) to
9.704 ppm (pupa). LC50 of M.oreades -synthesized nanoencapsulated AgNP ranged from 3.055
(larva I) to 8.934 ppm (pupa). Furthermore, the antiplasmodial activity of M.oreades mushroom
extract and green-synthesized AgNP was evaluated against CQ-resistant (CQ-r) and CQ-sensitive
(CQ-s) strains of P. falciparum. IC50 of M.oreades was 65.78 μg/mL (CQ-s) and 69.67 μg/mL (CQ r); M.oreades -synthesized AgNP achieved IC50 of 43.54 μg/mL (CQ-s) and 48.13 μg/ml (CQ-r).
The AgNP did not show evidence of any noticeable toxicity on Cyclops bicuspidatus after 5 days
of exposure. Overall, the outcome highlighted that mushroom-synthesized AgNP could be
candidated as a new tool against P. falciparum and diverse developmental instars of its primary
vector An. stephensi.
