A new-fangled horizon in leather process to sidestep toxic chrome and formaldehyde using hyperbranched polymer.

A novel chrome-free tanning and formaldehyde-free post tanning process with PEG-melamine base hyperbranched polymer by complexing aluminum (Al3+) present in aluminum sulfate for eco-friendly tanning applications. The hyperbranched polymers PEGM-400-C-Al and PEGM-600-C-Al were synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, NMR, UV, and XRD. The molecular weight of polymers was assessed by GPC and subjected to the leather process. The processed crust leathers were analyzed for physical characteristics by tensile strength, tear strength, elongation, and quality assessments by hand evaluation by experts. FE-SEM analyzed collagen fibers and fiber splitting of goat skin, and COD, BOD, and total solid in spent liquor were analyzed and compared. The highlighting feature of hyperbranched polymers is (a) Improved shrinkage temperature (Ts) (85 ± 1 °C), (b) Improved physical-mechanical properties (c) Better BOD, COD, and total solids over the aluminum sulfate tanning process. This study confirmed that hyperbranched polymer is effective for tanning and post-tanning leather, which obviates the need to use toxic chromium and formaldehyde for tanning leathers.

Evaluation of in vitro anticancer activity of 1,8-Cineole-containing n-hexane extract of Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) Skeels plant and its apoptotic potential.

Plants are the source of a variety of secondary metabolites, which are often used in the anticancer activity. Discovering new anticancer drug from herbal source is more important in both biological and pharmacological activities. Hence, the objective of this study is to identify the anticancer agent in Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) Skeels (CC) for the treatment of cancer. Very recently we have reported an increased antioxidant activity in the ethanolic and methanolic extracts (EE and ME) of CC but significantly reduced activity (rather increased cytotoxicity), in the n-hexane extract (HE). In this study, the cytotoxicity of all the three solvent extracts was tested against A431, MG-63 and HaCaT cell lines by MTT assay. Interestingly HE has showed increased anti-proliferative effect against the cancer cells but was resisted by non-malignant cells. HPLC and GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 1,8-Cineole as a predominant compound in HE, the semi-purified bioactive extract. Henceforth, this would be called HE-C and be used for further analyses to understand its mode of action on induced apoptosis/necrosis. Alamar blue assay of HE-C showed cytotoxicity and change in morphological characteristics, which was confirmed by AO/EB staining using fluorescence microscopy, ultra-structural features of apoptosis using SEM and TEM. HE-C induced cell death was also detected by FACS using FITC-labelled Annexin-V and Propidium iodide. ROS generation was monitored using DCF-DA by flow cytometry. The overall results suggested that the selective extract (HE-C) containing 1,8-Cineole has shown potential anti-cancer activity in a dose-dependent manner, and cell death was induced through ROS-mediated apoptosis. Our findings provide an insight into the potential of 1,8-Cineole as a novel drug for killing cancer cells.

Intestine-Specific, Oral Delivery of Captopril/Montmorillonite: Formulation and Release Kinetics.

The intercalation of captopril (CP) into the interlayers of montmorillonite (MMT) affords an intestine-selective drug delivery system that has a captopril-loading capacity of up to ca. 14 %w/w and which exhibits near-zero-order release kinetics.