Urinary levoglucosan as a biomarker of wood smoke exposure: observations in a mouse model and in children.

BACKGROUND: Biomass smoke is an important source of particulate matter (PM), and much remains to be discovered with respect to the human health effects associated with this specific PM source. Exposure to biomass smoke can occur in one of two main categories: short-term exposures consist of periodic, seasonal exposures typified by communities near forest fires or intentional agricultural burning, and long-term exposures are chronic and typified by the use of biomass materials for cooking or heating. Levoglucosan (LG), a sugar anhydride released by combustion of cellulose-containing materials, is an attractive candidate as a biomarker of wood smoke exposure. OBJECTIVES: In the present study, Balb/c mice and children were assessed for LG in urine to determine its feasibility as a biomarker. METHODS: We performed urinary detection of LG by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry after intranasal instillations of LG or concentrated PM (mice) or biomass exposure (mice or humans). RESULTS: After instillation, we recovered most of the LG within the first 4 hr. Experiments using glucose instillation proved the specificity of our system, and instillation of concentrated PM from wood smoke, ambient air, and diesel exhaust supported a connection between wood smoke and LG. In addition, LG was detected in the urine of mice exposed to wood smoke. Finally, a pilot human study proved our ability to detect LG in urine of children. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that LG in the lungs is detectable in the urine of both mice and humans and that it is a good candidate as a biomarker of exposure to biomass smoke.

Mixed-linked beta-glucan from breads of different cereals is partly degraded in the human ileostomy model.

The purpose of this investigation was to study the degradation of beta-glucan in the small intestine and the molecular weight of beta-glucan in the excreta of nine ileostomy subjects after consumption of different diets based on bread made with oat bran (oat bread), a fiber-rich barley fraction (barley bread), or wheat flour (wheat bread) as the main ingredients. Oat bread with enzymatically degraded beta-glucan was also used (oat + enzyme bread). The beta-glucan intake from the four diets was 12.5, 12.9, 1.1, and 4.0 g/d, respectively. On the basis of dry matter, the night effluents accounted for approximately 15% of the total amount of the excreta, with the highest proportion (22%) being for the wheat-bread diet. A notable loss of beta-glucan (0.7-2.4 g/d, or 13-64%) was found when intake was compared with excretion. In vitro, a higher viscosity development with time for dispersions of oat bread compared with barley bread was noted, which could be related to the higher molecular weight of the beta-glucan in this bread. There seemed to be a depolymerization of the beta-glucan both during bread making and transit through the upper gastrointestinal tract.

[Sero-diagnosis for pulmonary aspergillosis--its utility in early diagnosis].

The clinical utility of Pastorex Aspergillus, a commercially available circulating aspergillus galactomannan antigen detection kit was evaluated. In animal models of pulmonary aspergillosis, it was extremely sensitive for detection of not only A. fumigatus antigen but also antigens of A. flavus and A. niger both in serum and urine. In a preliminary study in autopsied or clinically proven cases with aspergillus infections a high positive rate of antigen detection was obtained when it was applied prospectively. A total of 1,373 clinical samples obtained from patients with suspected aspergillus infection were examined. Among 67 patients giving antigen-positive results in their clinical samples including serum, urine, sputum and others, 17 patients proved to have aspergillus infection by histological or cultural studies. Sixteen patients were judged to be suspicious of aspergillus infection. Measurement of serum (1 --> 3) beta-D glucan by G-test in these cases was well correlated to the results of the antigen detection test. However, the serum showed often antigen-negative even when it was examined at the peak of illness. The rapid clearance of the antigen from circulation was considered to be one of the reasons for this phenomenon. In these cases, antigen detection in samples other than serum, such as urine, sputum, and pleural fluid was also useful. In conclusion, when using Pastorex Aspergillus to obtain the early diagnosis of aspergillus infection frequent examination in different types of samples is recommended.

Beta-D-glucan concentrations detected by Toxicolor and Endospecy tests in the urine of patients with urinary fungal infections.

Beta-D-glucan is an essential component of the cell wall of fungi. We measured its concentration in the urine of patients with funguria using the chromogenic endotoxin assay kits, Toxicolor and Endospecy. These assay systems use the same Limulus coagulation enzymes. Since the Endospecy test detects endotoxin but not factor G, which is activated by beta-D-glucan, the beta-D-glucan concentration can be calculated by subtracting the Endospecy value from the Toxicolor value. Concentrations of beta-D-glucan were found to be significantly higher in urine samples from patients with funguria (> or = 10(3) colony-forming units/ml) than in non-infected samples.

Isolation and structural characterization of twenty-one sialyloligosaccharides from galactosialidosis urine. An intact N,N'-diacetylchitobiose unit at the reducing end of a diantennary structure.

Galactosialidosis urine was fractionated by gel-permeation chromatography on Bio-Gel P-6. The obtained sialic acid-containing carbohydrate fractions were purified by reversed-phase chromatography and separated according to charge by medium-pressure anion-exchange chromatography on Mono Q. The Mono Q fractions, being mixtures of sialyloligosaccharides differing mainly in sialic acid-linkage type (alpha 2-3/alpha 2-6), were subfractionated by high-performance liquid chromatography on Lichrosorb-NH2. The purified compounds were analysed by 500-MHz 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Twenty-one fully and partially sialylated N-acetyllactosamine-type compounds include mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-antennary structures. All structures have the sequence Man beta 1-4Glc-NAc at the reducing terminus in common, except one diantennary structure bearing an intact N,N'-diacetylchitobiose unit at the reducing end, which is a new feature in human glycoproteinosis urine.