Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2010 Feb;76(4):1158-67. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01486-09. Epub 2009 Dec 28.
Associations between house dust-associated beta-(1,3)-glucan exposure and airway inflammatory reactions have been reported, while such exposures in early childhood have been suggested to protect against asthma and wheezing. Most epidemiological studies have used reservoir dust samples and an inhibition enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for beta-(1,3)-glucan exposure assessment. The objective of this study was to develop inexpensive but highly sensitive enzyme immunoassays to measure airborne beta-(1,3)-glucans in low-exposure environments, like homes. Specificities of available anti-beta-(1,3)-glucan antibodies were defined by direct and inhibition experiments. Three suitable antibody combinations were selected for sandwich EIAs. beta-(1,3)-Glucans in passive airborne dust collected with an electrostatic dust fall collector (EDC) and floor dust from seven homes were measured with the three EIAs. Floor dust samples were additionally analyzed in the inhibition EIA. The sandwich EIAs were sensitive enough for airborne glucan measurement and showed different specificities for commercial glucans, while the beta-(1,3)-glucan levels in house dust samples correlated strongly. The feasibility of measuring glucans in airborne dust with the recently introduced EDC method was further investigated by selecting the most suitable of the three EIAs to measure and compare beta-(1,3)-glucan levels in the EDC and in floor and actively collected airborne dust samples of the previously performed EDC validation study. The EDC beta-(1,3)-glucan levels correlated moderately with beta-(1,3)-glucans in actively collected airborne dust and floor dust samples, while the glucan levels in the airborne dust and floor dust samples did not correlate. The combination of the newly developed beta-(1,3)-glucan sandwich EIA with EDC sampling now allows assessment in large-scale population studies of exposure to airborne beta-(1,3)-glucans in homes or other low-exposure environments.
已报道室内灰尘相关β-（1,3）-葡聚糖暴露与气道炎症反应之间存在关联，而幼儿时期的此类暴露据称可预防哮喘和喘息。大多数流行病学研究都使用储库灰尘样本和β-（1,3）-葡聚糖暴露评估的抑制酶免疫分析（EIA）。本研究的目的是开发廉价但高度敏感的酶免疫分析法来测量低暴露环境（如家庭）中的空气传播β-（1,3）-葡聚糖。通过直接和抑制实验确定了现有抗β-（1,3）-葡聚糖抗体的特异性。选择了三种合适的抗体组合用于夹心 EIA。使用静电尘埃沉降收集器（EDC）收集的被动式空气尘埃中β-（1,3）-葡聚糖和来自七个家庭的地板尘埃使用三种 EIA 进行了测量。地板尘埃样品另外在抑制 EIA 中进行了分析。夹心 EIA 对空气传播葡聚糖的测量足够敏感，并显示出对商业葡聚糖的不同特异性，而房屋灰尘样本中的β-（1,3）-葡聚糖水平相关性很强。通过选择三种 EIA 中最合适的方法来测量和比较之前进行的 EDC 验证研究中 EDC 和地板以及主动收集的空气尘埃样品中的β-（1,3）-葡聚糖水平，进一步研究了用最近引入的 EDC 方法测量空气尘埃中葡聚糖的可行性。EDC 的β-（1,3）-葡聚糖水平与主动收集的空气尘埃和地板尘埃样品中的β-（1,3）-葡聚糖水平中度相关，而空气尘埃和地板尘埃样品中的葡聚糖水平没有相关性。将新开发的β-（1,3）-葡聚糖夹心 EIA 与 EDC 采样相结合，现在可以在大型人群研究中评估家庭或其他低暴露环境中空气传播β-（1,3）-葡聚糖的暴露情况。
