Phytochemical Characterization and Efficacy of Artemisia judaica Extract Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles as Inhibitors of Cancer Proliferation and Microbial Growth

Despite the advanced development in the field of drug discovery and design, fighting infectious and non-infectious diseases remains a major worldwide heath challenge due to the limited activity of currently used drugs. Nevertheless, in recent years, the approach of designing nanoparticles for therapeutic applications has gained more interest and promise for future use. Thus, the current study is focused on the evaluation of A. judaica extract and chitosan nanoparticles loaded extract (CNPsLE) for potential antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The HPLC analysis of the extract has shown the presence of various phenolic and flavonoid compounds, including kaempferol (3916.34 µg/mL), apigenin (3794.32 µg/mL), chlorogenic acid (1089.58 µg/mL), quercetin (714.97 µg/mL), vanillin (691.55 µg/mL), naringenin (202.14 µg/mL), and rutin (55.64 µg/mL). The extract alone showed higher MIC values against B. subtilis, E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumonia, and C. albicans (62.5, 15.65, 15.62, 31.25, and 31.25 µg/mL, respectively), whereas lower MIC values were observed when the extract was combined with CNPsLE (0.97, 1.95, 3.9, 4.1, and 15.62 µg/mL, respectively). The extract exhibited low cytotoxicity against normal Vero cells with IC(50) 173.74 µg/mL in comparison with the cytotoxicity of the CNPsLE (IC(50), 73.89 µg/mL). However, CNPsLE showed more selective toxicity against the human prostate cancer cell line (PC3) with IC(50) of 20.8 µg/mL than the extract alone with 76.09 µg/mL. In the docking experiments, kaempferol and apigenin were revealed to be suitable inhibitors for prostate cancer (2Q7L). Overall, the obtained data highlighted the promising potential therapeutic use of CNPsLE as an anticancer and antimicrobial agent.