Monitoring of Bacterial Sugars and Hydroxy Fatty Acids in Dust from AirConditioners by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

摘要

Bacterial cell envelope components in airborne dust may act as irritants causingrespiratory and ocular symptoms and may be involved in the sick-building phenomenon (1-3, 25). Bacteria are also a threat to immunocompromised patients (17, 27). Selective growth of bacterial species can make culture difficult to interpret. There is thus a need for additional approaches for monitoring the bacterial content of air. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS, endotoxin) are major constituents of the outer membranes of gram-negative bacterial cell walls and are toxic for humans and animals. LPS levels have been used as a measure of gram-negative bacteria, primarily by determination of the clotting cascade activation of Limulus amoebocytes lysates (1-3). However, this assay has a limited specificity (19, 26, 28). LPS consist of an outer 0 antigen, a middle core, and