Acrolein [BSA]

Blood serum is enriched in lipids and has provided a platform to understand the pathogenesis of a number of human diseases with improved diagnosis and development of biomarkers. Understanding lipid changes in neurodegenerative diseases is particularly important because of the fact that lipids make up >50% of brain tissues. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a common cause of early onset dementia, characterized by brain atrophy in the frontal and temporal regions, concomitant loss of lipids and dyslipidemia. However, little is known about the link between dyslipidemia and FTD pathophysiology. Here, we utilized an innovative approach - lipidomics based on mass spectrometry-to investigate three key aspects of FTD pathophysiology - mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, and oxidative stress. We analyzed the lipids that are intrinsically linked to neurodegeneration in serum collected from FTD patients and controls. We found that cardiolipin, acylcarnitine, lysophosphatidylcholine, platelet-activating factor, o-acyl-omega-hydroxy fatty acid and acrolein were specifically altered in FTD with strong correlation between the lipids, signifying pathophysiological changes in FTD. The lipid changes were verified by measurement of the common disease markers (e.g. ATP, cytokine, calcium) using conventional assays. When put together, these results support the use of lipidomics technology to detect pathophysiological changes in FTD.

Mesoporous aluminas were prepared using different precipitants at different pH of precipitation and evaluated in the gas phase dehydration of glycerol. Samples were characterized by thermal analysis techniques (TGA, NH3-TPD and TPO), specific surface area measurements, XRD and SEM. The gas phase dehydration of glycerol was performed in a fixed bed quartz tubular reactor at 773 K using a 10% glycerol aqueous solution. Thermogravimetric analysis has revealed the temperature regions of decomposition for the prepared alumina catalyst precursors. The specific surface area and the crystallinity of the samples were dependent on both the pH and the used precipitating agent. Samples precipitated with NaOH presented higher density of acid sites than the samples prepared with Na2CO3, regardless of precipitation pH. The catalytic properties of the prepared aluminas are mainly related to the specific surface area and to acidic characteristics. Conversions of glycerol above 85% were obtained for all samples. The selectivity for glycerol dehydration was strongly related to the amount and strength of acid sites. The best result for dehydration was obtained for samples prepared with NaOH and precipitated at pH = 5. These results are related to the higher specific surface area, greater amount of acid sites and the higher ratio of weak acid sites. TPO revealed the amount of carbon deposited on the catalysts. Samples that showed higher carbon formation also showed a higher production of light olefins, indicating that the formation of carbon is related to the formation of these byproducts. NH3-TPD has shown the ratio of different acid sites on the surface of alumina samples that makes possible to estimate the correlation between the acidity and the catalytic properties.