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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biotechnology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1421485

Foliar spraying with zinc oxide nanoparticles enhances the antiosteoporotic efficacy of the fruit extracts of Silybum marianum L. by stimulating silybin production

Provisionally accepted
Fadia El Sherif Fadia El Sherif 1*Bodour Fahd Bodour Fahd 1Nancy Safwat Younis Nancy Safwat Younis 1Yamen Safwat Yamen Safwat 2Salah khattab Salah khattab 1
  • 1 King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
  • 2 Zagazig University, Zagazig, Al Sharqia, Egypt

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Silybum marianum is a medicinal plant that produces silymarin, which has been demonstrated to possess antiviral, antineurodegenerative, and anticancer activities. Silybin (A+B) are two major hepatoprotective flavonolignans produced predominantly in S. marianum fruits. Several attempts have been made to increase the synthesis of silymarin, or its primary components, silybin (A+B). Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are considered a highly efficient Zn source widely used to promote crop development and productivity.In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of the foliar application of ZnO-NPs on the growth, yield, photosynthetic pigment content, silybin (A+B) content, and the expression of the chalcone synthase (CHS) gene in S. marianum plants. Different concentrations of ZnO-NPs were administered as foliar sprays to S. marianum plants growing in greenhouse conditions. Furthermore, we evaluated the anti-osteoporotic efficacy of the corresponding fruit extract against dexamethasone (Dex)-induced osteoporosis.Results and Discussion: Foliar treatment at all ZnO-NP concentrations increased the amounts of bioactive components silybin (A+B), which enhanced the growth and yield of S. marianum plants while increasing the levels of N, P, K, and Zn in their leaves, roots, and fruits, the levels of photosynthetic pigments in their leaves, and silybin (A+B) content in their fruits, thereby increasing the medicinal value of S. marianum. The highest gains were observed in plants sprayed with the highest ZnO-NP concentration (20.0 mg/L). In addition, gene expression studies revealed that ZnO-NPs stimulated silybin (A+B) production by activating CHS genes. The administration of S. marianum extracts to Dex-administered rats increased osteoblast and bone formation while inhibiting osteoclast and bone resorption, thereby protecting the animals against Dex-induced osteoporosis.

    Keywords: Zinc dioxide, Nanoparticles, Silybum marianum, silybin, chalcone synthase, Dexamethasone, Osteoporosis

    Received: 30 Apr 2024; Accepted: 28 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 El Sherif, Fahd, Safwat Younis, Safwat and khattab. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Fadia El Sherif, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.