Preparation and characterization of CuO, Ag2O and ZnO nanoparticles and Investigation of their antibacterial and anticancer properties on HCT-116 and C26 cells

Background: Infections are one of the important issues that cause disruption in a person's life. Therefore, the use of antimicrobial substances plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of infections. In recent decades, the use of nano materials has increased in various fields, especially in medicine. Nanoparticles (NPs) can be used to facilitate the use of some antimicrobial drugs and finally overcome the limitations of conventional antimicrobial drugs. Among these antimicrobial NPs, silver oxide and copper oxide NPs can be mentioned. In the present study, the antibacterial properties of silver oxide, zinc oxide, and copper oxide NPs have been investi-gated and their effects on bacterial infection agents and cancer cells have been investigated.Materials and methods: The steps of making NPs were done. Then, the physical and chemical properties of the particles were checked with specialized tests such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In order to evaluate the minimum inhibitory concentration of bacterial growth (MIC), the antibacterial activity of NPs and anticancer index were used.Findings: MIC results showed that copper oxide NPs have more antimicrobial effects than silver oxide and zinc oxide NPs on the investigated microbial cells (62 mu g/ml). The maximum lethality of cancer cells with IC50 of 110 and 130 mu g/ml for C26 and HCT-116 cell lines, respectively, is related to silver NPs.Conclusion: For silver oxide NPs, the addition of two other particles was able to inhibit and kill bacteria and cancer cells at a lower concentration. In order to understand the clinical effectiveness of these harms, it is recommended to conduct additional studies in animal models according to the toxicity concentration of the particles.