Biogenic flavonoid capping converts a cytotoxic Carica papaya fraction into a selective, cross-serotype dengue entry inhibitor

Abstract

Plant-derived flavonoids show measurable anti-dengue activity in cell culture, but their translational value is limited by a narrow therapeutic window: the concentrations that inhibit the virus approach or exceed those that are cytotoxic. Whether nanoparticle formulation can resolve this constraint, rather than simply add potency, remains untested for a chemically defined fraction. Here we show that biogenic silver nanoparticle (AgNP) formation using a flavonoid-enriched fraction of Carica papaya inverts an unusable selectivity profile into a viable one. The unformulated fraction was cytotoxic below the concentrations required for antiviral activity: its 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC₅₀ = 134.9 µg/mL) lay below its 50% effective concentration against dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2; EC₅₀ = 254.4 µg/mL), giving a Selectivity Index (SI) of 0.53. Using the same flavonoids as sole reducing and capping agents produced AgNPs (Z-average 128.4 nm; PDI 0.232; zeta potential −28.4 mV) that moved both parameters simultaneously. CC₅₀ rose approximately 8.6-fold to 1,165.74 µg/mL while EC₅₀ fell approximately 8.8-fold to 29.05 µg/mL, raising the SI to 40.12, an approximately 75-fold shift. Time-of-addition analysis localised the effect to the extracellular phase: inhibition was significant under pre-treatment and co-treatment but not after viral adsorption, identifying the AgNPs as entry inhibitors rather than replication inhibitors. Consistent with a serotype-independent physical mechanism, AgNP treatment at 30 µg/mL reduced viral RNA across all four serotypes, using inocula standardised against WHO-traceable NAAT reference reagents. These findings identify capping chemistry, rather than silver content alone, as a determinant of the therapeutic window in phytosynthesised nanoantivirals.