In-situ modification of castor oil with divalent metal ions like Zn (II), Cu (II), Co (II) and Ba (II) and their comparative antioxidant study by in-vitro methods

Nanoformulations of Ursolic Acid: A Modern Natural Anticancer Molecule

Background: Ursolic acid (UA) is a natural pentacyclic triterpene derived from fruit, herb, and other plants. UA can act on molecular targets of various signaling pathways, inhibit the growth of cancer cells, promote cycle stagnation, and induce apoptosis, thereby exerting anticancer activity. However, its poor water-solubility, low intestinal mucosal absorption, and low bioavailability restrict its clinical application. In order to overcome these deficiencies, nanotechnology, has been applied to the pharmacological study of UA.

Objective: In this review, we focused on the absorption, distribution, and elimination pharmacokinetics of UA in vivo, as well as on the research progress in various UA nanoformulations, in the hope of providing reference information for the research on the anticancer activity of UA.

Methods: Relevant research articles on Pubmed and Web of Science in recent years were searched selectively by using the keywords and subheadings, and were summarized systematically.

Key finding: The improvement of the antitumor ability of the UA nanoformulations is mainly due to the improvement of the bioavailability and the enhancement of the targeting ability of the UA molecules. UA nanoformulations can even be combined with computational imaging technology for monitoring or diagnosis.

Conclusion: Currently, a variety of UA nanoformulations, such as micelles, liposomes, and nanoparticles, which can increase the solubility and bioactivity of UA, while promoting the accumulation of UA in tumor tissues, have been prepared. Although the research of UA in the nanofield has made great progress, there is still a long way to go before the clinical application of UA nanoformulations.

Fabrication of metal incorporated polymer composite: An excellent antibacterial agent

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed for direct addition of castor oil for human consumption as food and most recently FDA approved castor oil as over-the-counter (OTC) for laxative drug. The present article highlights the green route phosphorylation of castor oil (COL) via condensation polymerization. Further, the incorporation of metal ions Cu (II)) and Zn (II) into the polymer matrix have been carried out at elevated temperature using catalyst p-toluene sulphonic acid (PTSA). The modification of the said material has been confirmed by FT-IR, UV-VIS, and ¹H and ³¹P-NMR spectroscopy. Further, the in vitro antibacterial activities of the metal incorporated-COL has been performed by standard methods against B. cereus (MCC2243) (gram-positive) and E. coli (MCC2412) (gram-negative) bacteria. The results revealed that the incorporation of metal ions into the polymer matrix increases the antibacterial activity largely. This may be governed by the electrostatic interaction between metal ions and microbes, also the generation of free active oxygen hinders the normal activity of bacteria. These results suggest that the synthesized material may act a potential candidate for low cost, environment friendly antibacterial agents and may find their application in clinical fields. Herein we are also proposing mechanism of antibacterial activity.