The Timing and Effects of Low-Dose Ethanol Treatment on Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Injury

Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is the major cause of drug-induced liver injury and acute liver failure. Approximately 10% of APAP is metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP2E1) into toxic N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI). CYP2E1 also contributes to ethanol metabolism, especially during conditions of high blood ethanol concentration. Acute and chronic ethanol consumption appears to have opposite effects on APAP-induced liver injury. We determined the effects of different doses, pre- and post-treatment, and various schedules of ethanol exposure in APAP-induced liver injury. Treatment with ethanol (0.5 g/kg) after 1 h of APAP (300 mg/kg) administration decreased serum ALT levels, histopathological features, and inflammatory cell infiltration. Moreover, ethanol treatment 1 h after APAP treatment reduced APAP-induced liver injury compared with later administration. Interestingly, ethanol pretreatment did not provide any protective effect. Furthermore, ethanol treatment was associated with a significant decrease in ERK and AKT phosphorylation during the acute injury phase. Ethanol exposure also increased CYP2E1 expression and decreased PCNA expression during the liver regeneration phase.

Enhanced Enzymatic Saccharification of Mixed Sawdust Wastes: Comparison of SPORL, Dilute Acid, Formic Acid, and Ethanol Organosolv Pretreatments

Utilization of the huge quantity of sawdust wastes is urgent. In this study, SPORL, dilute acid pretreatment (DA), formic acid pretreatment (FA), ethanol pretreatment (EtOH/H2O), and sulfuric acid catalyzed ethanol pretreatment (EtOH/H2O/H2SO4), on improving enzymatic hydrolysis of mixed sawdust wastes were comprehensively compared. EtOH/H2O/H2SO4 was the most effective pretreatment in lignin removal from sawdust fiber cell wall, while FA was much more effective in hemicellulose removal. After the pretreatments, the crystallinity of cellulose increased because of the removal of amorphous hemicellulose and lignin. Moreover, the fiber surface became coarse and porous, especially after EtOH/H2O/H2SO4, the structure was destroyed into fragments, which enhanced the cellulase accessibility of cellulose. Therefore, the glucose yield of EtOH/H2O/H2SO4 pretreated substrate was highest among these five pretreatments, achieved at 91.4% with a cellulase loading of only 10 FPU/g glucan. Resumen. Es urgente aprovechar la gran cantidad de residuos de aserrín. En este estudio, SPORL, pretratamiento con ácido diluido (DA), pretratamiento con ácido fórmico (FA), pretratamiento con etanol (EtOH/H2O) y pretratamiento con etanol catalizado con ácido sulfúrico (EtOH/H2O/H2SO4), sobre la mejora de la hidrólisis enzimática de residuos de aserrín mezclado fueron comparados de manera integral. EtOH/H2O/H2SO4 fue el pretratamiento más eficaz para eliminar la lignina de la pared celular de la fibra de aserrín, mientras que el FA fue mucho más eficaz para eliminar la hemicelulosa. Después de los pretratamientos, la cristalinidad de la celulosa aumentó debido a la eliminación de hemicelulosa amorfa y lignina. Además, la superficie de la fibra se volvió gruesa y porosa, especialmente después de EtOH/H2O/H2SO4, la estructura se destruyó en fragmentos, lo que mejoró la accesibilidad de celulasa de la celulosa. Por lo tanto, el rendimiento de glucosa del sustrato pretratado con EtOH/H2O/H2SO4 fue el más alto entre estos cinco pretratamientos, alcanzado al 91,4% con una carga de celulasa de solo 10 FPU / g de glucano.

Ethanol production from corn husk, coconut husk and plantain peel using Saccharomyces cereviasae

Corn Husk (CH), Coconut Husk (CCH) and Plantain Peel (PP) used for this work are agricultural wastes sourced from local end users. These waste biomasses were subjected to simple physical treatment of particle size reduction and used for anaerobic fermentativeproduction of alcohol. The biomass and media were added in ratio 1:20 (w/v) in 250 ml flask, incubated at 30 oC for 24 h. Aliquots from the Fermented slurry were withdrawn from the flasks and tested for ethanol produced at interval of 3 h for the 24 h period. Ethanolproduction performance occurred in the order PP > CH >CCH with 5.06, 4.69 and 4.63 g/L respectively. These values are less than 6.75 g/L recorded in pure glucose used as control. These results show the possibility of the utilization of agricultural waste for ethanolproduction. Intensification of the pretreatment technique and combination of different pretreatments could enhance higher ethanol production from agricultural wastes and biomass. Keywords: Ethanol, Pretreatment, Agricultural wastes, fermentation,

Isolation of Cellulose Nanofibers (CNFs) based on Ball-milling Technique Combined with Supercritical Carbon dioxide/ethanol Pretreatment

Here, a new pretreatment method has been developed to produce CNFs from micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) by supercritical CO 2 pretreatment followed with ball-milling (SCB). MFC was obtained from cotton stalk by chemical purification.Experimental factors were controlled to enhance the properties of SCB-CNF, meanwhile a comparative study was conducted with the method of TEMPO oxidation and microfluid homogenization (TMH). Compared to TMH-CNF, the SCB-CNF has such advantages as Energy saving, high efficiency and environmental protection, indicating a wide application in heat-resistant materials, load materials and other fields. The solid yields of P-MFC after supercritical CO 2 pretreatment gradually decreased together with the temperature and the reaction time. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the SCB-CNF and TMH-CNF show that the morphology of the SCB-CNF was basically acicular but that of the TMH-CNF was mainly soft fibrous. The SCB-CNF is smaller in width and shorter in length, and its size is between CNC and CNF. Thermal gravimetric results suggest that the thermal stability of the SCB-CNF was substantially higher than those of the TMH-CNF. XRD results indicate that the crystallinity showed an initial increasing trend and then declined with increasing temperature and reaction time, and the crystallinity value of SCB-CNF was larger than that of CNFs. The smaller SCB-CNF became rougher and had a larger surface area. High crystallinity make good thermal stability, short and coarse fiber, easier to disperse than CNF, less energy consumption for dispersion, better than 3D mesh. It can be widely used in polymer composites, reinforcing agents, membrane materials and other fields.

ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AS BYPRODUCT OF BIOETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM AGRO-WASTES

The present study aims to evaluate the potential of agro wastes such as apple pomace, Grasses, sugarcane bagasse as potential sources of bioethanol production. Bioethanol is the one of the recent increasing biofuels due to its positive impact on the environment and especially towards second generation of biofuels i.e. from non-food biomass. It’s produced from high sugar and starch containing raw materials and lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulose may be a complex mixture of carbohydrate that needs an efficient pretreatment for the assembly of fermentable sugar, after hydrolysis are fermented into ethanol. Pretreatment of lignocellulose has received considerable research globally thanks to economic and environmental sustainability of ethanol production. Microbes like Zymomonas mobilis, and Phanerochaete provide sufficient fermentation yield and can be utilized for fermenting lignocellulosic substrate. These microbes are isolated from the feedstock samples in the present study. A suitable media was also designed for the growth of the isolated microorganisms. The antioxidant tests were analyzed on the potential samples using UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Lowering the cost of bioethanol production is one of the biggest challenges currently and can be greatly reduced by utilizing renewable feedstocks. Thus, making bioethanol is more economically competitive compared to fossil fuel.