Calcium current uses

Calcium has earned a reputation as one of the most at-risk nutrients (Foote et ah, 2004) and in 2005 the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee classified Ca as a shortfall nutrient because average Ca intake often falls to <60% of the recommended intake in subsets of the population (Kennedy and Meyers, 2005). The pressing need to improve the Ca status of Americans has been highlighted by the Healthy People 2010 Objective, an initiative that endeavors to increase, to at least 75%, the number of US individuals 2 years or older that meet current Ca recommendations (Looker, 2003). The general population requires ongoing education to more fully appreciate the relevance of Ca in relation to current and future health, the imminent risks associated with habitual inadequate intakes, and practical means by which to achieve recommended intakes. 

Session 4 focused on recent advances in the thermochemical copper chloride and calcium bromide cycles. Much of the current research on thermochemical cycles for hydrogen production involves the sulphur cycles (sulphur-iodine, hybrid sulphur), however, these cycles require very high temperatures ( 800-900°C) to drive the acid decomposition step. The interest in the Cu-Cl and Ca-Br cycles is due to the lower peak temperature requirements of these cycles. The peak temperature requirement for the Cu-Cl cycle is about 550°C, which would allow this cycle to be used with lower temperature reactors, such as sodium- or lead-cooled reactors, or possibly supercritical water reactors. Ca-Br requires peak temperatures of about 760°C. Both of these cycles are projected to have good efficiencies, in the range of 40%. Work on Cu-Cl is ongoing in France, Canada and the United States. Work on Ca-Br has been done primarily in Japan and the US, with the more recent work being done in the US at ANL. The papers presented in this session summarised the recent advances in these cycles. 

The uKxmotoxins have attracted much recent interest owing to their potential application in the treatment of chronic pain, exemplified by the success of w-conotoxin MVIIA (Ziconotide) in phase III clinical trials initiated by the US pharmaceutical company Neurex. Ziconotide also has potential applications in other conditions associated with regulation of calcium channels. As with all peptides, though, bioavailability considerations and possible side-effects mean that the mode of delivery needs careful consideration. In the current pain trials, an infusion pump is used for delivery of peptide direct into... 

The current therapy leaders are the anti-ulcerants such as Omeprazole (Prilosec ) or Lansoprazole (Prevacid ), which accounted for US 19.5 billion in 2001, thus claiming a market share of 6%. The anti-ulcerants are closely followed by the cholesterol reducers, e.g., Atorvastatin (lipitor ) and Simvastatin (Zocor ), totaling US 18.9 billion, the antidepressants (US 15.9 billion), and the NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs US 10.9 billion). Calcium antagonists, antipsychotics, oral antidiabetics, ACE inhibitors, cephalosporins, and antihistamines complete the list of the best-selling therapy classes, with sales between US 9.9 and 6.7 billion. It is interesting to note that four classes grew more than 20% in 2001, namely the cholesterol reducers (22%), the antipsychotics (30%), the oral antidiabetics (30%), and the antihistamines (22%) [4],... 

Lactic acid (2-hydroxypropionic acid) is a naturally occurring multifunctional organic acid that is found in many food products, particularly in those which involve natural or processed fermented food preparations. Currently, more than 70% of lactic acid is used as acidulents, food preservatives, and feedstock for the manufacture of calcium stearoyl-2-lactylates in the baking industry. The consumption of lactic acid is estimated to be around 30 million lb in the US with an estimated increase of 6% per year. Therefore, lactic acid is an intermediate-volume specialty chemical used chiefly for food processing. 

Currently, (J )-pantothenic acid is industrially produced by conventional chemical synthesis and marketed as the calcium salt (calpan). The global market of calpan was valued at approximately 75 million US dollars in sales in 2005 with a world output over 10 000 ton. The key starting material for large-scale chemical processes is (J )-pantolactone. This molecule can be coupled with either calcium P-alanine to form (J )-pantothenate or with 3-aminopropanol to form panthenol, an important ingredient in skin and hair care consumer products. Purification of (7 )-pantolactone from racemic mixtures occurs by chemical or enzymatic racemic resolution [320, 321]. 

Lakatta, E.G., DiFrancesco, D. What keeps us ticking a funny current, a calcium clock, or both J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 47(2), 157-170 (2009)... 

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