Analysis of the impact of sex and age on the variation in the prevalence of antinuclear autoantibodies in Polish population: a nationwide observational, cross-sectional study

The detection of antinuclear autoantibody (ANA) is dependent on many factors and varies between the populations. The aim of the study was first to assess the prevalence of ANA in the Polish adult population depending on age, sex and the cutoff threshold used for the results obtained. Second, we estimated the occurrence of individual types of ANA-staining patterns. We tested 1731 patient samples using commercially available IIFA using two cutoff thresholds of 1:100 and 1:160. We found ANA in 260 participants (15.0%), but the percentage of positive results strongly depended on the cutoff level. For a cutoff threshold 1:100, the positive population was 19.5% and for the 1:160 cutoff threshold, it was 11.7%. The most prevalent ANA-staining pattern was AC-2 Dense Fine speckled (50%), followed by AC-21 Reticular/AMA (14.38%) ANA more common in women (72%); 64% of ANA-positive patients were over 50 years of age. ANA prevalence in the Polish population is at a level observed in other highly developed countries and is more prevalent in women and elderly individuals. To reduce the number of positive results released, we suggest that Polish laboratories should set 1:160 as the cutoff threshold

Comparative Analysis of Rhamnolipids from Novel Environmental Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

International audienceA comparative analysis of rhamnolipids from environmental isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was undertaken to evaluate strain-specific rhamnolipid fingerprints obtained under different growth conditions. Environmental isolates of P. aeruginosa produced rhamnolipids on different types of substrates, including cheap and renewable sources like sunflower oil from deep fryers and sunflower oil mill effluent. Rhamnolipids were monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization interface mass spectrometry, which allowed fast and reliable identification and quantification of the congeners present. The highest concentration of total rhamnolipids of 3.33 g/l was obtained by the strain P. aeruginosa 67, recovered from petroleum contaminated soil, and strains D1 (1.73 g/l) and D2 (1.70 g/l), recovered from natural microbial consortia originated from mazut-contaminated soil, grown on sunflower oil as a carbon source. Di- to mono-rhamnolipids ratios were in the range of 0.90–5.39 for different media composition and from 1.12 to 4.17 for different producing strains. Rhamnolipid profiles of purified mixtures of all tested strains are similar with chain length from C8–C12, pronounced abundance of Rha–C10–C10 and Rha–Rha–C10–C10 congeners, and a low content of 3-(3-hydroxyalkanoyloxy)-alkanoic acids. Concentrations of major congeners of RLs were found to slightly vary, depending on strain and growth conditions, while variations in minor congeners were more pronounced. Statistically significant increase of critical micelle concentration values was observed with lowering the ratio of total mono- to di-rhamnolipids ratio indicating that mono-rhamnolipids start to form micelles at lower concentration than di-rhamnolipids