Coronary patients with high plasma omentin are at a higher cardiovascular risk.

The adipokine omentin, also known as intelectin, is a secretory protein, expressed in visceral adipose tissue and is highly abundant in plasma. It is involved in the development of chronic inflammatory diseases, but nothing is known about its impact on the cardiovascular event risk. Here, plasma omentin was measured in 295 patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of established or suspected stable coronary artery disease (CAD).

High plasma omentin predicts cardiovascular events independently from the presence and extent of angiographically determined atherosclerosis.

Background And Aims: No prospective data on the power of the adipocytokine omentin to predict cardiovascular events are available. We aimed at investigating i) the association of plasma omentin with cardiometabolic risk markers, ii) its association with angiographically determined coronary atherosclerosis, and iii) its power to predict cardiovascular events.

Methods: We measured plasma omentin in 295 patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of established or suspected stable coronary artery disease (CAD), of whom 161 had significant CAD with coronary artery stenoses ≥50% and 134 did not have significant CAD.

High plasma chemerin is associated with renal dysfunction and predictive for cardiovascular events - Insights from phenotype and genotype characterization.

The novel adipokine chemerin, encoded by the RARRES2 gene, has been suggested to be linked to insulin resistance and to the metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, no well-defined cardiovascular profile has been reported and the association with coronary artery disease (CAD) is a matter of debate. Because there is a relation between renal dysfunction and CAD, we analyzed plasma chemerin levels and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in 495 patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of established or suspected stable CAD.

Angiopoietin-like protein 4 significantly predicts future cardiovascular events in coronary patients.

Background: Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4) has been associated with cardiometabolic disorders including dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis in animal studies; in humans, however, its impact on metabolic traits and cardiovascular risk remains unclear.

Methods: We examined the association of plasma ANGPTL4 levels with the metabolic syndrome (harmonized consensus definition), with angiographically determined coronary artery disease (CAD), and with the risk of future cardiovascular events in a cohort of 490 patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of stable CAD. In addition, we investigated the influence of the tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs4076317, rs2278236, rs1044250, and rs11672433 as well as variant rs116843064 (E40K) of the ANGPTL4 gene on cardiovascular risk in a larger sample of 983 angiographied coronary patients including the above mentioned 490 subjects.

Reactor performance of a 750 m(3) anaerobic digestion plant: varied substrate input conditions impacting methanogenic community.

A 750 m(3) anaerobic digester was studied over a half year period including a shift from good reactor performance to a reduced one. Various abiotic parameters like volatile fatty acids (VFA) (formic-, acetic-, propionic-, (iso-)butyric-, (iso-)valeric-, lactic acid), total C, total N, NH4 -N, and total proteins, as well as the organic matter content and dry mass were determined. In addition several process parameters such as temperature, pH, retention time and input of substrate and the concentrations of CH4, H2, CO2 and H2S within the reactor were monitored continuously.

Impact of protein-, lipid- and cellulose-containing complex substrates on biogas production and microbial communities in batch experiments.

In the present study, nine complex organic substrates from three classes (protein-, lipid-, and cellulose-rich) were investigated in batch experiments and compared with a control in order to evaluate their potential for utilisation as substrates for biogas production. High methane production was observed from protein-rich substrates; problems arose from lipid-containing, lactose and cellulose fermentation. Using DGGE analysis it could be shown that different classes of substrate resulted in different microbial communities, whereupon similar substrates tended to show a similar microbial structure.

Effects of various fatty acid amendments on a microbial digester community in batch culture.

Since biogas production is becoming increasingly important the understanding of anaerobic digestion processes is fundamental. However, large-scale digesters often lack online sensor equipment to monitor key parameters. Furthermore the possibility to selectively change fermenting parameter settings in order to investigate methane output or microbial changes is limited.

Reduction of accumulated volatile fatty acids by an acetate-degrading enrichment culture.

The effects of the addition of an acetate-degrading enrichment culture to an anaerobic digester with a stagnating biogas production were investigated. Initially, a thermophilic batch-operated lab-scale digester was inoculated with the diluted fermenter sludge of a biogas plant, and process parameters including the concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and gases in the headspace were measured. After a phase of high gas production, a stagnation of biogas production followed for a further 30 days.

Application of denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography in microbial ecology: fermentor sludge, compost, and soil community profiling.

Genetic fingerprinting methods, such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), are used in microbial ecology for the analysis of mixed microbial communities but are associated with various problems. In the present study we used a new alternative method: denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (dHPLC). This method was previously shown to work with samples from water and gut flora but had not yet been applied to complex environmental samples.

Survival of selected pathogens in diluted sludge of a thermophilic waste treatment plant and in NaCl-solution under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Decimal reduction times (DRT or D-value) of Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella enterica (formerly Salmonella choleraesuis) serovar Senftenberg, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes were determined in two different matrices, diluted fermenter sludge (DFS) and 0.95% NaCl-solution (NaCl) at 50 degrees C, both under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Depending on aeration, matrix composition, and the respective organism, the D-values varied between 10min and more than 15h.

Removal of free extracellular DNA from environmental samples by ethidium monoazide and propidium monoazide.

Recently, new DNA extraction techniques (using ethidium monoazide and propidium monoazide) have been developed to discriminate between alive and dead bacterial cells. Nevertheless, for complex environmental samples, no data are available yet. In the present study, these new methods were applied to anaerobic-fermentor sludge and the results were compared to a conventional microbiological approach.

Ability of DNA content and DGGE analysis to reflect the performance condition of an anaerobic biowaste fermenter.

Molecular-microbiological techniques have delivered insight into microbial populations present in anaerobic fermenters, although much information still remains to be elucidated. In this study, the ability of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to throw light on microbial community composition was investigated and latter data were compared with the gas production of a 750,000l anaerobic biogas fermenter. During 1 year, samples were taken from two different sites of the reactor and additionally from the substrate material.