Untargeted Identification of Wood Type-Specific Markers in Particulate Matter from Wood Combustion.

Residential wood combustion emissions are one of the major global sources of particulate and gaseous organic pollutants. However, the detailed chemical compositions of these emissions are poorly characterized due to their highly complex molecular compositions, nonideal combustion conditions, and sample preparation steps. In this study, the particulate organic emissions from a masonry heater using three types of wood logs, namely, beech, birch, and spruce, were chemically characterized using thermal desorption in situ derivatization coupled to a GCxGC-ToF/MS system. Untargeted data analyses were performed using the comprehensive measurements. Univariate and multivariate chemometric tools, such as analysis of variance (ANOVA), principal component analysis (PCA), and ANOVA simultaneous component analysis (ASCA), were used to reduce the data to highly significant and wood type-specific features. This study reveals substances not previously considered in the literature as meaningful markers for differentiation among wood types.

Apolipoprotein E gene variants as a risk factor for coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetic Egyptian patients.

Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have increased mortality and morbidity of cardiovascular diseases compared with non-diabetic patients. The role of apolipoprotain E in lipid metabolism and cholesterol transport is well established. Apolipoprotein E gene (APO E) polymprphism that confers susceptibility to or protection from CAD in patients with type 2 DM may be quite different in different ethnic populations. We aimed to determine the frequencies of allelic variants of APO E in Egyptian population and to examine the relationship between APO E polymorphism and risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in Egyptian type 2 diabetic patients. The study included 35 diabetic patients with CAD (group 1), 35 diabetic patients without CAD (group II) and 30 control subjects. All were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations for lipid profile and APO E genotyping by PCR-RFLP. Results revealed that epsilon3 allele was the commonest among the studied subjects (84%). The frequencies of epsilon2 and epsilon4 alleles were higher in group I (24.3% and 8.6% respectively) than group II and controls. The frequency of E2/E2, E2/E3, and E4/E3 genotypes was significantly higher in group I than group II and controls. Comparing group I vs. controls and group I vs. group II, multivariate analysis demonstrated significantly increased risk for CAD with epsilon4 and epsilon2 alleles vs. E3 (OR=7.02 and 4.97 respectively). In Conclusion, epsilon4 and E2 alleles are associated with higher risk of CAD in type2 DM than epsilon3 allele. Larger scale studies are still needed to either confirm or modify these results.

Taq1B polymorphism of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) in Egyptian patients with metabolic syndrome.

AIM: We aimed at evaluation of the possible association of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) Taq1B polymorphism with the components of metabolic syndrome in a cohort of Egyptian patients compared to their healthy counterparts. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected for lipid profile, fasting glucose, insulin and routine biochemical tests. The Taq1B genotypes of CETP were determined using RFLP-PCR technique. RESULTS: The patients group showed a significantly higher B1B1 genotype and lower B2B2 genotype compared to the controls group. Serum HDL-C level was significantly higher in all subjects with the B2B2 genotype compared to those with B1B1 genotype. In the patients group, age positively correlated with cholesterol level, triglycerides, BMI and waist circumference. CONCLUSION: Egyptian patients affected with metabolic syndrome have a higher prevalence of B1B1 genotype that is associated with lower serum HDL-C levels.