Could <i>Chlamydia Pneumoniae</i> Be Considered an Infectious Risk Factor for Inflammatory Diseases Such as Atherosclerosis ?

Sessa, Rosa; Pietro, Marisa Di; Schiavoni, Giovanna; Santino, Iolanda; Piano, M. Del

doi:10.1177/1721727x0500300301

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…1 Periods when students were present were not compared statistically with unoccupied periods. Sessa et al 11 found that occupancy in a university auditorium (180 students), as well as in an office (18 m 2 , four individuals), and an apartment (110 m 2 , two individuals), was associated with a 2-4-fold increase in the concentration of airborne, culturable bacteria. A study of indoor air quality parameters in a lecture theatre in a Singapore school offers additional indirect evidence that the presence of occupants in classrooms may result in higher levels of bioaerosols.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large particles are responsible for elevated bacterial marker levels in school air upon occupation

et al. 2005

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Muramic acid (Mur) is found in bacterial peptidoglycan (PG) whereas 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs) are found in Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Thus Mur and 3-OH FAs serve as markers to assess bacterial levels in indoor air. An initial survey, in a school, demonstrated that the levels of dust, PG and LPS (pmol m(-3)) were each much higher in occupied rooms than in the same rooms when unoccupied. In each instance, the Mur content of dust was increased and the hydroxy fatty acid distribution changed similarly suggesting an alteration in the bacterial population. Here, findings are compared with results from two additional schools. Follow-up aerosol monitoring by particle size was also performed for the first time for all 3 schools. The particle size distribution was shown to be quite different in occupied versus unoccupied schoolrooms. Within individual classrooms, concentrations of airborne particles [greater-than-or-equal]0.8 [micro sign]m in diameter, and CO(2) were correlated. This suggests that the increased levels of larger particles are responsible for elevation of bacterial markers during occupation. Release of culturable and non-culturable bacteria or bacterial aggregates from children (e.g. from flaking skin) might explain this phenomenon.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large particles are responsible for elevated bacterial marker levels in school air upon occupation

et al. 2005

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“…2 Bacterial levels in a university office, auditorium, and apartments were found to be considerably elevated when people where present (925-1225 cfu m 23 occupied versus 92-182 cfu m 23 for unoccupied offices). 3 Endotoxin levels are higher in homes with animals. 4 However, recent studies of schools have not directly addressed the effect of occupancy on levels of bacteria or their constituents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased levels of bacterial markers and CO2 in occupied school rooms

Fox

Harley

Feigley

et al. 2003

J. Environ. Monitor.

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Our group previously demonstrated that carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in heavily occupied schools correlate with the levels of airborne bacterial markers. Since CO2 is derived from the room occupants, it was hypothesized that in schools, bacterial markers may be primarily increased in indoor air because of the presence of children; directly from skin microflora or indirectly, by stirring up dust from carpets and other sources. The purpose of this project was to test the hypothesis. Muramic acid (Mur) is found in almost all bacteria whereas 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs) are found only in Gram-negative bacteria. Thus Mur and 3-OH FA serve as markers to assess bacterial levels in indoor air (pmol m(-3)). In our previous school studies, airborne dust was collected only from occupied rooms. However, in the present study, additional dust samples were collected from the same rooms each weekend when unoccupied. Samples were also collected from outside air. The levels of dust, Mur and C10:0, C12:0, C14:0, and C16:0 3-OH FAs were each much higher (range 5-50 fold) in occupied rooms than in unoccupied school rooms. Levels in outdoor air were much lower than that of indoor air from occupied classrooms and higher than the levels in the same rooms when unoccupied. The mean CO2 concentrations were around 420 parts per million (ppm) in unoccupied rooms and outside air; and they ranged from 1017 to 1736 ppm in occupied rooms, regularly exceeding 800-1000 ppm, which are the maximum levels indicative of adequate indoor ventilation. This indicates that the children were responsible for the increased levels of bacterial markers. However, the concentration of Mur in dust was also 6 fold higher in occupied rooms (115.5 versus 18.2 pmole mg(-1)). This further suggests that airborne dust present in occupied and unoccupied rooms is quite distinct. In conclusion in unoccupied rooms, the dust was of environmental origin but the children were the primary source in occupied rooms.

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“…Heavily occupied schools, factories, and offices, which often have limited air-flow due to modern air conditioning systems, represent a lesser but still substantial degree of contamination. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Environmental measurements of exposure to allergens, in dust samples, are routinely performed using individual enzyme immunoassays (ELISA) for each protein of interest. Antibodies are employed that target the most abundant allergens, whose source includes cats, dogs and dust mites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7 Staphylococci, which are Gram positive bacteria, are among the most common organisms found on human skin, 8,9 and epithelial shedding with adherent bacteria might explain both chemical and physical observations. Others have also found increased microbial levels, 10,11 or particles [12][13][14][15][16] associated with occupation. In the current report, the first proteomic studies are described, to delineate human and environmental sources of dust present in indoor air.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human K10 epithelial keratin is the most abundant protein in airborne dust of both occupied and unoccupied school rooms

et al. 2008

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Previously it was demonstrated that the levels of large particles (>2 micron) and associated bacterial cell envelope markers increase greatly on occupation in schools; it was hypothesized that the source of both was shed human skin. In the current work to test this hypothesis, room air cleaners were used to collect airborne dust (>50-100 mg) from occupied and unoccupied school rooms which was then subjected to proteomic analysis. Proteins were extracted from the dust and separated using two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D GE). In situ digestion of protein spots with trypsin released peptides, which were subsequently analyzed by matrix assisted laser desorption/deionization, time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS-MS). In Coomassie blue stained gels, a single spot generally dominated the 2D gels; this protein was identified by tandem mass spectrometry as K10 epithelial keratin. The results experimentally confirm previous anecdotal reports that human skin is readily shed into air and suggest that increased levels of microbial markers and large particles observed in occupied rooms are also derived from skin.

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Could Chlamydia Pneumoniae Be Considered an Infectious Risk Factor for Inflammatory Diseases Such as Atherosclerosis ?

Cited by 3 publications

References 28 publications

Large particles are responsible for elevated bacterial marker levels in school air upon occupation

Large particles are responsible for elevated bacterial marker levels in school air upon occupation

Increased levels of bacterial markers and CO2 in occupied school rooms

Human K10 epithelial keratin is the most abundant protein in airborne dust of both occupied and unoccupied school rooms

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