Exploiting a new glycerol-based copolymer as a route to wound healing: Synthesis, characterization and biocompatibility assessment

Bio-based nanocomposite hydrogels derived from poly (glycerol tartrate) and cellulose: Thermally stable and green adsorbents for efficient adsorption of heavy metals

The eco-friendly polymeric nanocomposite hydrogels were prepared by incorporating dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS) and apple peel (AP) as reinforcements into the crosslinked polymer produced by cellulose (CL) and poly (glycerol tartrate) (TAGL) via gelation method and used for efficient adsorption of Pb2+, Co2+, Ni2+, and Cu2+ metal ions. DFNS and DFNS/TAGL-CL/AP samples were characterized by FESEM, FTIR, TEM, TGA, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption methods. The results of TGA analysis showed that the thermal stability of the prepared hydrogels improved significantly in the presence of DFNS. Both synthetic and environmental parameters were investigated and the adsorption capacity reached 560.2 (pH = 4) and 473.12 (pH = 5) mg/g for Pb2+ and Cu2+ respectively, using initial ion concentration of 200 mg/L. Also, the maximum adsorption capacity was 340.9, and 350.3 mg/g for Co2+ and Ni2+, respectively under optimum conditions (pH = 6, initial ion concentration of 100 mg/L). These experiments indicated that the DFNS/TAGL-CL/AP nanocomposite hydrogel has an excellent performance in removal of Pb2+ and can adsorb this toxic metal in only 30 min while the optimum contact time for other metals was 60 min. Pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models were used to define the kinetic and adsorption isotherms, respectively and thermodynamic studies demonstrated that the adsorption was endothermic for Co2+, Ni2+ and Cu2+, exothermic for Pb2+, and spontaneous in nature for all metal ions. Furthermore, the reusability tests indicated that the hydrogels could maintain up to 93% of their initial adsorption capacity for all metal ions after four cycles. Therefore, the prepared nanocomposite hydrogels can be suggested as efficient adsorbents to remove the toxic metals from wastewater.

In Vitro Evaluation of the Effects of Hyaluronic Acid and an Aminoacidic Pool on Human Osteoblasts

The treatment of bone injuries must be timely and effective to improve the chances of full recovery. In this respect, a mix of hyaluronic acid and an amino acidic pool has been marketed to promote soft tissue healing, fastening recovery times. Several studies have reported the in vitro and in vivo influence of hyaluronic acid and amino acids on fibroblasts and keratinocytes, highlighting the enhancement of cell proliferation, motility and cytokines synthesis. Even though the effectiveness of this combination of molecules on bone repair has been described in vivo, to the best of our knowledge, its in vitro effects on osteoblasts still need to be investigated. Therefore, this work describes for the first time osteoblast metabolism, proliferation and in vitro differentiation in the presence of hyaluronic acid and amino acids, aiming at understanding the mechanisms underlying their effectiveness in injured tissue repair. The reported results demonstrate the enhancement of osteoblasts’ metabolic activity and the fastening of cell cycle progression. Furthermore, gene expression studies show a significant increase in differentiation markers, i.e., osteoprotegerin and osteonectin. Finally, alkaline phosphatase activity is also boosted by the combination of hyaluronic acid and aminoacids, confirming the ability of in vitro cultured cells to properly differentiate through the osteogenic lineage.

Data on glycerol/tartaric acid-based copolymer containing ciprofloxacin for wound healing applications

This data article is related to our recently published research paper “Exploiting a new glycerol-based copolymer as a route to wound healing: synthesis, characterization and biocompatibility assessment", De Giglio et al. (Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 136 (2015) 600–611) [1]. The latter described a new copolymer derived from glycerol and tartaric acid (PGT). Herein, an investigation about the PGT-ciprofloxacin (CIP) interactions by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) acquired in Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) mode and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was reported. Moreover, CIP release experiments on CIP-PGT patches were performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) at different pH values.