Toxicity and efficacy of CdO nanostructures on the MDCK and Caki-2 cells

•CdO nanostructures synthesized via green route using Polygala tenuifolia root extract as capping and reducing agent.•CdO nanostructures were triangle square and rectangle in shape.•We studied the toxic effect of CdO nanostructures on MDCK and Caki-2 cells.

This article reports the toxicological effects of synthesized cadmium oxide (CdO) nanostructures via a simple green route using a Polygala tenuifolia root extract on normal and renal tumor cells. First, the formation of cadmium oxide nanostructures were confirmed structurally by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The powder was crystallized in a cubic structure with a space group of Fm-3m. The mean crystallize size was approximately 40 and 44 nm from the Scherrer and size-strain plots, respectively. The surface states of the cadmium oxide nanostructure using the O 1s and Cd 3d spectra were analyzed by XPS. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the simple green route resulted in various morphologies of synthesized cadmium oxide, such as trigonal-, tetrahedron-, and sheet-like structures. Finally, the toxic effects of the cadmium oxide nanostructures on Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells (MDCK cells), as well as the human renal cancer cell line (Caki-2 cells) were investigated using a SRB assay and two-color flow cytometry analysis. The cadmium oxide nanostructures showed significant cell growth inhibition in normal and also tumor cells in a dose-dependent manner. On the other hand, the inhibition was higher in the cancer cells compared to the normal cells.

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