Diosgenin-Conjugated Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: A Sustainable Approach to Counter Antibiotic-Induced Oxidative Stress in the Aquatic Environment Using the in vivo Zebrafish Larvae Model (Danio rerio)

In recent decades, high consumption of antibiotics has led to substantial discharge into the water bodies, which may harm the non-target organisms in the aquatic environment by inducing oxidative stress. Increased oxidative stress leads to DNA damage, and disrupts cellular homeostasis and other cellular activities. Plant compounds can be potential therapeutics for various diseases, including antibacterial, anti-inflammation, and antioxidant activity. Nano-based drug formulations have also shown promising antibacterial and antioxidant activity. In this study, diosgenin-conjugated zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) are synthesized to evaluate their antibacterial and antioxidant activity. Diosgenin-ZnONPs exhibited an average size of 21–25 nm. Diosgenin-ZnONPs also showed antibacterial efficacy similar to streptomycin against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Escherichia coli, and Citrobacter freundii. In vitro antioxidant investigations, diosgenin-ZnONPs showed effective free radicals scavenging activity. Furthermore, in vivo toxicity study, diosgenin-ZnONPs did not exhibit any toxicity in zebrafish embryos and larvae at 1.25–10 µg/ml concentrations. Antioxidant studies on zebrafish larvae indicated that diosgenin-ZnONPs significantly reduced streptomycin-induced oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant enzyme levels in zebrafish larvae. In Real-time Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) studies, there was a significant upregulation of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). In summary, our findings indicate that diosgenin-ZnONPs can act as an effective antibacterial and antioxidant agent.