Impacto de uma intervenção ao nível do empratamento no desperdício alimentar do almoço fornecido numa escola básica do 1.º ciclo do município do Porto

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Pesos e porções de alimentos

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Challenges Associated With the Design and Deployment of Food Intake Urine Biomarker Technology for Assessment of Habitual Diet in Free-Living Individuals and Populations:A Perspective

Improvement of diet at the population level is a cornerstone of national and international strategies for reducing chronic disease burden. A critical challenge in generating robust data on habitual dietary intake is accurate exposure assessment. Self-reporting instruments (e.g., food frequency questionnaires, dietary recall) are subject to reporting bias and serving size perceptions, while weighed dietary assessments are unfeasible in large-scale studies. However, secondary metabolites derived from individual foods/food groups and present in urine provide an opportunity to develop potential biomarkers of food intake (BFIs). Habitual dietary intake assessment in population surveys using biomarkers presents several challenges, including the need to develop affordable biofluid collection methods, acceptable to participants that allow collection of informative samples. Monitoring diet comprehensively using biomarkers requires analytical methods to quantify the structurally diverse mixture of target biomarkers, at a range of concentrations within urine. The present article provides a perspective on the challenges associated with the development of urine biomarker technology for monitoring diet exposure in free-living individuals with a view to its future deployment in real world situations. An observational study (n = 95), as part of a national survey on eating habits, provided an opportunity to explore biomarker measurement in a free-living population. In a second food intervention study (n = 15), individuals consumed a wide range of foods as a series of menus designed specifically to achieve exposure reflecting a diversity of foods commonly consumed in the UK, emulating normal eating patterns. First Morning Void urines were shown to be suitable samples for biomarker measurement. Triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, coupled with liquid chromatography, was used to assess simultaneously the behavior of a panel of 54 potential BFIs. This panel of chemically diverse biomarkers, reporting intake of a wide range of commonly-consumed foods, can be extended successfully as new biomarker leads are discovered. Towards validation, we demonstrate excellent discrimination of eating patterns and quantitative relationships between biomarker concentrations in urine and the intake of several foods. In conclusion, we believe that the integration of information from BFI technology and dietary self-reporting tools will expedite research on the complex interactions between dietary choices and health. (c) Copyright (c) 2020 Beckmann, Wilson, Lloyd, Torres, Goios, Willis, Lyons, Phillips, Mathers and Draper

Iodine supplementation: compliance and association with adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes

Free PMC article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/34981750/Objectives: Over 1.9 billion people worldwide are living in areas estimated to be iodine insufficient. Strategies for iodine supplementation include campaigns targeting vulnerable groups, such as women in pre-conception, pregnancy and lactation. Portuguese women of childbearing age and pregnant women were shown to be mildly-to-moderately iodine deficient. As a response, in 2013, the National Health Authority (NHA) issued a recommendation that all women considering pregnancy, pregnant or breastfeeding, take a daily supplement of 150-200 μg iodine. This study explored how the iodine supplementation recommendation has been fulfilled among pregnant and lactating women in Portugal, and whether the reported iodine supplements intake impacted on adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes. Design and methods: Observational retrospective study on pregnant women who delivered or had a fetal loss in the Braga Hospital and had their pregnancies followed in Family Health Units. Results: The use of iodine supplements increased from 25% before the recommendation to 81% after the recommendation. This was mostly due to an increase in the use of supplements containing iodine only. Iodine supplementation was protective for the number of adverse obstetric outcomes (odds ratio (OR) = 0.791, P = 0.018) and for neonatal morbidities (OR = 0.528, P = 0.024) after controlling for relevant confounding variables. Conclusion: The recommendation seems to have succeeded in implementing iodine supplementation during pregnancy. National prospective studies are now needed to evaluate the impact of iodine supplementation on maternal thyroid homeostasis and offspring psychomotor development and on whether the time of the beginning of iodine supplementation (how early during preconception or pregnancy) is relevant to consider.This work has been funded by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) – project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020 and by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000039, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Funding agencies did not participate in any part of the research or in data or manuscript preparationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exposure of the portuguese population to multiple mycotoxins: the contribute of human biomonitoring

As micotoxinas constituem um grupo de contaminantes alimentares que poderão provocar vários efeitos tóxicos na saúde humana, entre eles efeitos estrogénicos, imunotóxicos, nefrotóxicos e teratogénicos. É por isso importante avaliar a exposição humana a estes compostos, através da análise direta dos seus biomarcadores em amostras biológicas. Em Portugal existem poucos dados disponíveis de exposição a micotoxinas obtidos em estudos de biomonitorização humana. Face a esta ausência de informação, o presente estudo teve como objetivo determinar os biomarcadores de exposição a micotoxinas em amostras de urina de 24 horas, colhidas no âmbito do Inquérito Nacional de Alimentação, Nutrição e Atividade Física da População Geral Portuguesa (2015-2016), e avaliar o risco associado a esta exposição. A determinação analítica destes compostos foi efetuada por cromatografia líquida com deteção por espectrometria de massa permitindo a deteção e quantificação simultânea de 37 biomarcadores de exposição a micotoxinas presentes na urina. Os dados obtidos foram utilizados para estimar a Ingestão Diária Provável e caracterizar o risco através da determinação do Quociente de Perigo. Os resultados obtidos revelaram a exposição da população portuguesa a zearalenona, desoxinivalenol, ocratoxina A, alternariol, citrinina e fumonisina B1. Os dados de caracterização de risco revelaram uma potencial preocupação, considerando que os valores de referência de ingestão foram excedidos em alguns participantes. A micotoxina alternariol foi identificada e quantificada, pela primeira vez, em amostras de urina num país europeu; no entanto, a caracterização do risco não foi efetuada dado não existir um valor de referência estabelecido internacionalmente. Estes resultados confirmam que a população Portuguesa está exposta a micotoxinas, reforçando a necessidade de mais estudos sobre os determinantes desta exposição.Mycotoxins constitute a relevant group of food contaminants with several associated health outcomes such as estrogenic, immunotoxic, nephrotoxic and teratogenic ef fects. In Por tugal, few data are available regarding human biomonitoring studies of mycotoxins. The present study concerned the analysis of mycotoxins in 24h urine samples from 94 participants enrolled within the scope of the National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Sur vey of the Por tuguese General Population (2015- 2016). The urine samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometr y for the simultaneous determination of 37 urinar y mycotoxins’ biomarkers and the obtained data were used to estimate the probable daily intake as well as to characterize the risk applying the Hazard Quotient approach. Results revealed the exposure of the Por tuguese population to zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, alternariol, citrinin and fumonisin B1. Risk characterization showed a potential concern to some repor ted mycotoxins since the reference intake values were exceeded by some of the considered par ticipants. Alternariol was identified for the first time in urine samples from a European countr y, despite the risk characterization was not per formed due to lack of a reference dose, not yet internationally established. These results confirmed mycotoxins as par t of the human exposome of the Por tuguese population reinforcing the need for fur ther studies regarding the determinants of exposure.São devidos agradecimentos à FCT/MCTES pelo apoio financeiro ao CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2019) através de fundos nacionais. Este trabalho é financiado por fundos nacionais através da FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P., no âmbito do projeto earlyMYCO (PTDC/MED-TOX/28762/2017). O IAN-AF foi financiado por EEA Grants Program, Public Health Initiatives (PT06-000088SI3).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Mitochondrial Genome Is a “Genetic Sanctuary” during the Oncogenic Process

Since Otto Warburg linked mitochondrial physiology and oncogenesis in the 1930s, a number of studies have focused on the analysis of the genetic basis for the presence of aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells. However, little or no evidence exists today to indicate that mtDNA mutations are directly responsible for the initiation of tumor onset. Based on a model of gliomagenesis in the mouse, we aimed to explore whether or not mtDNA mutations are associated with the initiation of tumor formation, maintenance and aggressiveness. We reproduced the different molecular events that lead from tumor initiation to progression in the mouse glioma. In human gliomas, most of the genetic alterations that have been previously identified result in the aberrant activation of different signaling pathways and deregulation of the cell cycle. Our data indicates that mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, leading to increased nuclear DNA (nDNA) mutagenesis, but maintaining the integrity of the mitochondrial genome. In addition, mutational stability has been observed in entire mtDNA of human gliomas; this is in full agreement with the results obtained in the cancer mouse model. We use this model as a paradigm of oncogenic transformation due to the fact that mutations commonly found in gliomas appear to be the most common molecular alterations leading to tumor development in most types of human cancer. Our results indicate that the mtDNA genome is kept by the cell as a “genetic sanctuary” during tumor development in the mouse and humans. This is compatible with the hypothesis that the mtDNA molecule plays an essential role in the control of the cellular adaptive survival response to tumor-induced oxidative stress. The integrity of mtDNA seems to be a necessary element for responding to the increased ROS production associated with the oncogenic process

Reconstructing the Indian Origin and Dispersal of the European Roma: A Maternal Genetic Perspective

Previous genetic, anthropological and linguistic studies have shown that Roma (Gypsies) constitute a founder population dispersed throughout Europe whose origins might be traced to the Indian subcontinent. Linguistic and anthropological evidence point to Indo-Aryan ethnic groups from North-western India as the ancestral parental population of Roma. Recently, a strong genetic hint supporting this theory came from a study of a private mutation causing primary congenital glaucoma. In the present study, complete mitochondrial control sequences of Iberian Roma and previously published maternal lineages of other European Roma were analyzed in order to establish the genetic affinities among Roma groups, determine the degree of admixture with neighbouring populations, infer the migration routes followed since the first arrival to Europe, and survey the origin of Roma within the Indian subcontinent. Our results show that the maternal lineage composition in the Roma groups follows a pattern of different migration routes, with several founder effects, and low effective population sizes along their dispersal. Our data allowed the confirmation of a North/West migration route shared by Polish, Lithuanian and Iberian Roma. Additionally, eleven Roma founder lineages were identified and degrees of admixture with host populations were estimated. Finally, the comparison with an extensive database of Indian sequences allowed us to identify the Punjab state, in North-western India, as the putative ancestral homeland of the European Roma, in agreement with previous linguistic and anthropological studies