Biotechnological route for sustainable succinate production utilizing oil palm frond and kenaf as potential carbon sources.

Due to the world's dwindling energy supplies, greater thrust has been placed on the utilization of renewable resources for global succinate production. Exploration of such biotechnological route could be seen as an act of counterbalance to the continued fossil fuel dominance. Malaysia being a tropical country stands out among many other nations for its plenty of resources in the form of lignocellulosic biomass. To date, oil palm frond (OPF) contributes to the largest fraction of agricultural residues in Malaysia, while kenaf, a newly introduced fiber crop with relatively high growth rate, holds great potential for developing sustainable succinate production, apart from OPF. Utilization of non-food, inexhaustible, and low-cost derived biomass in the form of OPF and kenaf for bio-based succinate production remains largely untapped. Owing to the richness of carbohydrates in OPF and kenaf, bio-succinate commercialization using these sources appears as an attractive proposition for future sustainable developments. The aim of this paper was to review some research efforts in developing a biorefinery system based on OPF and kenaf as processing inputs. It presents the importance of the current progress in bio-succinate commercialization, in addition to describing the potential use of different succinate production hosts and various pretreatments-saccharifications under development for OPF and kenaf. Evaluations on the feasibility of OPF and kenaf as fermentation substrates are also discussed.

[Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of the Use of Hepatoprotectors in Management of Drug-Associated Liver Injury Due to Hodgkin's Lymphoma Chemotherapy].

The data on the pharmacoeconomic research of the use of Remaxol in treatment of drug-associated liver injury due to the chemotherapy in cancer patients are presented. The costs-efficiency method was applied to two groups of the patients with drug-associated liver injury treated according to different schemes. The research showed economical benefits of the Remaxol use.

A novel process for recovery of fermentation-derived succinic acid: process design and economic analysis.

Recovery and purification of organic acids produced in fermentation constitutes a significant fraction of total production cost. In this paper, the design and economic analysis of a process to recover succinic acid (SA) via dissolution and acidification of succinate salts in ethanol, followed by reactive distillation to form succinate esters, is presented. Process simulation was performed for a range of plant capacities (13-55 million kg/yr SA) and SA fermentation titers (50-100 kg/m(3)). Economics were evaluated for a recovery system installed within an existing fermentation facility producing succinate salts at a cost of $0.66/kg SA. For a SA processing capacity of 54.9 million kg/yr and a titer of 100 kg/m(3) SA, the model predicts a capital investment of $75 million and a net processing cost of $1.85 per kg SA. Required selling price of diethyl succinate for a 30% annual return on investment is $1.57 per kg.

Itaconic acid--a biotechnological process in change.

In the last years, itaconic acid has gained increasing interest as future bio-based platform chemical. To replace petrol-based compounds such as methacrylic acid in industry, the economic efficiency of the current biotechnological production processes with the fungus Aspergillus terreus has to be improved. The recent progress in understanding the biosynthesis, the regulation and the cellular transport of itaconic acid has facilitated the optimisation of existing processes as well as the construction of new microbial platforms. However, there is still need for further optimisation to increase the space-time yield, to achieve higher final concentrations and to use a broader range of low cost sustainable raw materials. Genetic engineering and process development need to apply intelligent screening platforms to obtain as much information as possible in small scale.

[Effectiveness of the hepatoprotective activity of reamberine, remaxol, and ademethionine and risk assessment in their use in patients with respiratory tuberculosis and drug-induced liver injury].

AIM: To comparatively evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of reamberine, remaxol, and exogenous ademethionine and a risk for unfavorable/favorable outcomes of their use in patients with liver injury during antituberculosis chemotherapy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred and eighty patients with new-onset respiratory tuberculosis were examined and divided into 4 groups (45 patients in each group): Study Group 1 (SG1): patients who took reamberine; Study Group 2 (SG2): those who received remaxol; Study Group 3 (SG3): those who had ademethionine; and a Comparative Group (CG): those who received 5% glucose solution. The test drugs were intravenously administered in a dropwise manner once daily for 10 days. The laboratory hepatic injury severity index (LHISI) was estimated according to the method described by T.N. Kalachnyuk and the risk for a favorable/unfavorable outcome was assessed, by calculating the average cost of the used hepatotropic agents. RESULTS: LHISI increased statistically significantly with the development of liver injury induced by antituberculosis agents. There was a statistically significant reduction in LHISI during therapy with the test hepatotropic agents versus glucose solution, the most pronounced activity being shown by remaxol. Relative risk (RR) and odds ratio (OR) assessments revealed the high likelihood of a favorable outcome (a reduction in LHISI) when each of the 3 test drugs versus glucose solution was administered; the highest RR and OR were also found in the use of remaxol. Estimation of costs and the number of patients to be treated (NPBT) in order to avoid a case of none LHLIS reduction could reveal the highest efficacy of remaxol. CONCLUSION: The test agents (reamberine, remaxol, and ademethionine) are effective in treating tuberculosis patients with drug-induced liver injury. The administration of remaxol demonstrated the highest positive effect (as estimated by LHISI) in terms of both RR and NPBT.

Process model and economic analysis of itaconic acid production from dimethyl succinate and formaldehyde.

A complete process model and economic analysis has been developed for itaconic acid production via catalytic condensation of dimethyl succinate and formaldehyde. The process model is based on experimental yields and selectivities obtained for the condensation reaction and on recovery schemes for itaconic acid developed in our laboratory. For an 18 million kg/yr (40 million lb/yr) itaconic acid production facility with a 10-year lifetime, the model predicts a capital investment of $40 million and an itaconic acid selling price of $2.34/kg ($1.06/lb) to achieve 30% annual return on investment. Feedstock cost is the largest contributor to the price of itaconic acid; succinate conversion and selectivity to the intermediate citraconic acid therefore most strongly influence process economics. Results of these analyses indicate that itaconic acid can be produced catalytically from succinic acid and formaldehyde at lower cost than via the current fungal fermentation route.