Arshad Ali

Herein, a copolymeric hydrogel comprising a naturally occurring swellable biopolymer, i.e. , glucoxylan (a major polysaccharide of chia seed mucilage (CM)) and methacrylic acid (MA), was synthesized through free radical polymerization for wound healing applications. The formation of CM-co-MA was authenticated through FTIR spectroscopy. The CM-co-MA appeared non-hemolytic and non-thrombogenic, and exhibited noteworthy antioxidant potential with DPPH scavenging activity ranging from 18.68 to 47.70 µg AAE µg/mL, FRAP activity from 32.22 to 63.70 µg AAE µg/mL, TFC from 27.91 to 73.59 µg QE/mL, and TPC from 26.95 to 58.21 µg GAE/mL. The CM-co-MA showed antibacterial activities against Listeria monocytogenes (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative), having a zone of inhibition (ZOI) of 27.87 and 23.00 mm, respectively. The antifungal activities were recorded against Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans, and found the length of growth inhibition of 72 and 76 mm, respectively. The acute oral toxicity study, acute dermal toxicity, and eye irritation test demonstrated the non-toxic, innocuous, and non-irritant attributes of the CM-co-MA, respectively. All animals stayed alive without any significant abnormalities during the 14 day study, and all hematological and biochemical parameters of the control and experimental group animals were comparable. Histopathology of the vital organs of rabbits also showed normal cellular architecture without any abnormalities. A wound healing study on rabbits revealed the tissue regeneration, with 84.40% recovery in treated rabbits after 14 days, and comparable with the positive control. Hence, the CM-co-MA is considered a non-toxic material having haemocompatibility, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal activities for potential application in wound healing.

The current research work focuses on the extraction and optimization of the hydrogel (AVM) from the seeds of Artemisia vulgaris using Box–Behnken design-response surface methodology (BBD-RSM). The AVM was obtained through a hot water extraction process. The influence of different factors, including pH (U = 4 to 10), temperature (V = 25 to 110 °C), seed/water ratio, i.e., S/W ratio (W = 1/10 to 1/70 w/v), and seed/water contact time, i.e., S/W time (X = 1 to 12 h) on the yield of AVM was evaluated. The p-value for the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was found to be w/v, and S/W time of 8.73 h according to Design-Expert Software. The study of the pH-responsive behavior of AVM in tablet form (formulation AVT3) revealed that AVM is a pH-responsive material with significantly high swelling at pH 7.4. However, less swelling was witnessed at pH 1.2. Moreover, AVM was found to be a sustained release material for esomeprazole at pH 7.4 for 12 h. The drug release from AVT3 was according to the super case-II transport mechanism and zero-order kinetics.

Mimosa pudica seed mucilage (MPM) is composed of glucuronoxylan, which is a swellable, pH-responsive and non-toxic biomaterial. Herein, we aimed to extract MPM from M. pudica seeds (MP seeds) to ascertain optimization of extraction conditions to get highest yield by response surface methodology, via Box-Behnken design (RSM-BBD). MPM was extracted from MP seeds by a hot water extraction method. The effects of four different parameters on the extraction yield of MPM were evaluated: pH of the extraction medium (1–10), seed/water contact time (1–12 h), the temperature of extraction medium (30–90 °C), and seed/water ratio (1:5–1:35 w/v). The maximum yield of MPM obtained by Design-Expert software was 10.66% (10.66 g/100 g) at pH 7, seed/water contact time of 6 h, extraction temperature of 50 °C, and seed/water ratio of 1:20 w/v. The p values of ANOVA were found to be less than 0.0001, which indicated that the extraction yield of MPM was significantly affected by all the study parameters. The results revealed that pH and extraction temperature were the most significant factors affecting the yield of MPM. MPM in compressed tablet form showed pH-responsive on–off switching behavior at pH 7.4 and 1.2 in a reversible manner. MPM in compressed tablet form sustained the release of itopride for 16 h following a super case-II transport mechanism and zero-order release kinetics.