Introduction:
Every year, many people die due to cancer in all of the world. So, the preparation and formulation of new chemotherapeutic supplements and drugs with remarkable effects to treat cancer are a priority of both developing and developed countries. Recently, zinc nanoparticles have been used as modern chemotherapeutic drugs to treat several cancers such as leukemia, lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, etc. In this study, zinc nanoparticles (ZnNPs) were synthesized in an aqueous medium using Fumaria officinalis leaf as stabilizing and reducing agents.

Material and methods:
The green synthesized ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis were characterized using different techniques including UV-visible and FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS). The anticancer activity of ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis was evaluated against acute myeloid leukemia and acute T cell leukemia. According to the XRD analysis, 20.44 nm was measured for the crystal size of ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis.

Results:
SEM images showed a uniform spherical morphology with an average size of 27.96 nm for ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis. In the cellular and molecular part of the recent study, the cells treated with ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis were assessed by MTT assay for 48 h regarding the cytotoxicity and anti-human acute leukemia properties on normal (HUVEC), acute myeloid leukemia (32D-FLT3-ITD and Human HL-60/vcr), and acute T cell leukemia (Jurkat, Clone E6-1 and J.RT3-T3.5) cell lines. In the antioxidant test, the IC50 values of ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis and BHT against DPPH free radicals were 187 and 197 µg/ml, respectively. The IC50 values of ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis were 227, 200, 250, and 336 µg/ml against 32D-FLT3-ITD, Human HL-60/vcr, Jurkat, Clone E6-1, and J.RT3-T3.5 cell lines, respectively. The viability of the malignant leukemia cell line decreased dose-dependently in the presence of ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis.

Conclusions:
It appears that the anti-human acute leukemia effect of ZnNPs@Fumaria officinalis is due to their antioxidant effects.