Seidel Björn, Alm Martin, Peters Rainer, Kördel Werner, Schäffer Andreas
Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Auf dem Aberg 1, 57392 Schmallenberg, Germany.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2006 Mar;13(2):125-30. doi: 10.1065/espr2005.08.283.
Due to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), specified risk material (SRM) as well as animal meat and bone meal (MBM) are banned from the food and feed chain because of a possible infection with pathogenic prions (PrP(Sc)). Nowadays, prions are widely accepted to be responsible for TSE(transmissible spongiform encephalopathies)-caused illnesses like BSE and scrapie, and especially for the occurrence of the new variant of CJD in humans. Presently, SRM and MBM are burnt under high temperatures to avoid any hazards for humans, animals or the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate a method using animal fat separated from Category I material which includes SRM and the carcasses of TSE-infected animals, or animals suspected of being infected with TSE, as a source for producing biodiesel by transesterification, analogous to the biodiesel process using vegetable oil.
For this purpose, animal fat was spiked with scrapie-infected hamster brain equivalents--as representative for a TSE-infected animal--and the biodiesel manufacturing process was downscaled and performed under lab-scale conditions.
The results analysed by Western blotting showed clearly that almost each single step of the process leads to a significant reduction of the concentration of the pathogenic prion protein (PrP(Sc)) in the main and side-products.
The data revealed that the biodiesel production, even from material with a high concentration of pathogenic prions, can be considered as safe.
The obtained results indicated that biodiesel produced from prion-contaminated fat was safe under the tested process conditions. However, it has to be pointed out that the results cannot be generalized because a different process control using other conditions may lead to different results and then has to be analysed independently. It is clear that the production of biodiesel from high risk material represents a more economic usage than the combustion of such material.
由于牛海绵状脑病（BSE），特定风险物质（SRM）以及动物肉骨粉（MBM）被禁止进入食品和饲料链，因为它们可能感染致病性朊病毒（PrP(Sc)）。如今，朊病毒被广泛认为是导致如BSE和羊瘙痒症等传染性海绵状脑病（TSE）相关疾病的原因，尤其是人类新型克雅氏病的病因。目前，SRM和MBM在高温下焚烧以避免对人类、动物或环境造成任何危害。本研究的目的是评估一种方法，该方法使用从包括SRM以及感染TSE的动物尸体或疑似感染TSE的动物的一类物质中分离出的动物脂肪作为原料，通过酯交换反应生产生物柴油，类似于使用植物油生产生物柴油的过程。
为此，将感染羊瘙痒症的仓鼠脑匀浆（作为感染TSE动物的代表）添加到动物脂肪中，并将生物柴油生产过程缩小规模并在实验室规模条件下进行。
通过蛋白质免疫印迹分析的结果清楚地表明，该过程几乎每个步骤都会导致主产品和副产品中致病性朊病毒蛋白（PrP(Sc)）浓度的显著降低。
数据表明，即使从含有高浓度致病性朊病毒的物质中生产生物柴油也可被视为安全的。
获得的结果表明，在所测试的工艺条件下，由受朊病毒污染的脂肪生产的生物柴油是安全的。然而，必须指出的是，结果不能一概而论，因为使用其他条件的不同过程控制可能会导致不同结果，然后必须单独进行分析。显然，从高风险物质生产生物柴油比燃烧此类物质具有更高的经济价值。
