Prokop-Prigge Katharine A, Mansfield Corrine J, Parker M Rockwell, Thaler Erica, Grice Elizabeth A, Wysocki Charles J, Preti George
Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA,
J Chem Ecol. 2015 Jan;41(1):67-74. doi: 10.1007/s10886-014-0533-y. Epub 2014 Dec 13.
This report describes the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with human cerumen (earwax) and the effects of ethnicity/race and variation on the ATP-binding cassette, sub-family C, member 11 gene (ABCC11). A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in ABCC11 affects the cerumen VOC profiles of individuals from African, Caucasian, and Asian descent. Employing gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) we have identified the nature and relative abundance of cerumen VOCs from 32 male donors. Our results show that cerumen contains a complex mixture of VOCs and that the amounts of these compounds vary across individuals as well as across ethnic/racial groups. In six of the seven compounds whose detected concentrations were found to be statistically different across groups, individuals of African descent (AfD) > Caucasian descent (CaD) > Asians descent (AsD). Our findings also reveal that ABCC11 genotype alone does not predict the type and relative levels of volatiles found in human cerumen, and suggest that other biochemical pathways must be involved. Examination of the composition and diversity of external auditory canal microbiota in a small subset of our subject population revealed that the ear microbiota may not be directly correlated with either ethnic group membership or ABCC11 genotype.
本报告描述了与人类耳垢相关的挥发性有机化合物（VOCs），以及种族/民族和ATP结合盒亚家族C成员11基因（ABCC11）变异的影响。ABCC11中的单核苷酸多态性（SNP）会影响非洲、白种人和亚洲血统个体的耳垢VOC谱。我们采用气相色谱/质谱联用（GC/MS）技术，鉴定了32名男性捐赠者耳垢VOCs的性质和相对丰度。我们的结果表明，耳垢含有多种VOCs的复杂混合物，这些化合物的含量在个体之间以及不同种族/民族群体之间存在差异。在检测浓度在不同群体间存在统计学差异的7种化合物中的6种中，非洲血统个体（AfD）>白种人血统个体（CaD）>亚洲血统个体（AsD）。我们的研究结果还表明，仅ABCC11基因型并不能预测人类耳垢中挥发性物质的类型和相对水平，这表明一定还涉及其他生化途径。对我们一小部分受试者群体外耳道微生物群的组成和多样性进行检查后发现，耳部微生物群可能与种族群体成员身份或ABCC11基因型均无直接关联。
