Procalcitonin: a marker for predicting the risk lower extremity amputation in infected wounds

Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder that is growing at epidemic proportions worldwide and is consensually classified in type 1 Diabetes, type 2 Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes. One of the most common complication of diabetes is the lower extremity is the diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Diabetes is also the most common cause of lower extremity amputation (LEA). Several foot disorders, such as foot ulcerations and infections are a major source of morbidity and a leading cause of hospitalization for persons with diabetes. Thus, ulceration, infection, gangrene, and limb amputation are major complications of the disease, estimated to cost billions of dollars each year and have attracted the attention of health policy providers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diabetes risk assessment: clinical screening tools

The epidemic of type 2 diabetes (T2D) continues to soar worldwide. Driven by changes in human habits, from availability of energy dense processed foods to the decrease of physical activity, T2D constitutes already a heavy burden of disease and a worrisome barrier for the sustainability of National Health Systems. Indeed, it affects 415 million people (8.8% prevalence), was responsible for 5.0 million deaths in 2015, and is estimated to cost 1/9 of all Health expenses. Within Europe, Portugal is reported as having the highest prevalence of diabetes: an estimated 9.6% by World Standard Population. But if we take into consideration the age distribution of the Portuguese population, then estimates increase to 12.9%. This means that 1 million Portuguese have diabetes, with almost half of these still undiagnosed. Additionally, 2 million (a third of the adult population) are estimated to have intermediate hyperglycemia (or prediabetes), being largely unaware of this condition.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Why entrepreneurship education and training in Polytechnic of Porto graduated courses? Students’ perception

This paper analyses the perception of Polytechnic of Porto (P.PORTO) students about entrepreneurship education in the graduated and training courses. A survey was conducted, supported by a questionnaire followed by researchers’ guidance. The perception of entrepreneurship education and training in students’ curricula was studied. Statistical analysis was applied using SPSS tool. Due to de diversity of graduated courses in P.PORTO it was possible to analyse the perception of students from different educational areas: Engineering, Health and Social Sciences. The main conclusion was that students from all courses seem to see entrepreneurship education and training as an important issue for their future career. As future work this survey should be applied to other P.PORTO units to have an integrated perception. The results of this study will be presented to courses coordinators to promote future curricula improvements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Galectin-3: a biomarker of metabolic progression of type 2 diabetes?

According to the International Diabetes Federation, Diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) has affected more than 425 million people in 2017 worldwide]. Not only is it a disease responsible for more than 4 million deaths, but also a trigger for other non communicable diseases and a huge burden on national health systems. The most important clinical manifestation of T2DM is hyperglycemia and monitoring of blood glucose levels remains the only method of screening. However, when glucose levels are high, the disease is already in place. The large investment in DM2 research allowed the identification of biomarkers that could be used to describe the progression of diabetes and some were described as having a predictive potential value to differentiate between progressors / non-progressors. One of the biomarkers described is Galectin-3 (Gal3). Previous studies of our group have already demonstrated a correlation of Gal3 between diabetic and non-diabetic animals.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Glycated Albumin: A new biomarker for monitoring metabolic progression of diabetes

One of the consequences of the metabolic progression of diabetes is kidney disease, being also a main cause of diabetes related morbidity and mortality. Therefore, earlier adoption of methods to estimate chronic kidney disease risks along with a more accurate glycemic index for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus is highly desirable. One of the widely used tubular injury markers is N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), a lysosomal enzyme of renal proximal tubular epithelial cells. One study demonstrated that the association between glycated albumin (GA) and uNAG excretion and observed that GA was significantly associated with uNAG excretion independent of other confounding factors. Consequently, this study suggest that GA can be a strong independent predictor of early renal tubular damage, beyond its role as a surrogate marker of glucose control (Huh et al., 2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Metabolic dysfunction biomarkers as predictors of early diabetes

During the pathophysiological course of type 2 diabetes (T2D), several metabolic imbalances occur. There is increasing evidence that metabolic dysfunction far precedes clinical manifestations. Thus, knowing and understanding metabolic imbalances is crucial to unraveling new strategies and molecules (biomarkers) for the early-stage prediction of the disease’s non-clinical phase. Lifestyle interventions must be made with considerable involvement of clinicians, and it should be considered that not all patients will respond in the same manner. Individuals with a high risk of diabetic progression will present compensatory metabolic mechanisms, translated into metabolic biomarkers that will therefore show potential predictive value to differentiate between progressors/non-progressors in T2D. Specific novel biomarkers are being proposed to entrap prediabetes and target progressors to achieve better outcomes. This study provides a review of the latest relevant biomarkers in prediabetes. A search for articles published between 2011 and 2021 was conducted; duplicates were removed, and inclusion criteria were applied. From the 29 studies considered, a survey of the most cited (relevant) biomarkers was conducted and further discussed in the two main identified fields: metabolomics, and miRNA studies.This research was funded by the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (REF UID/BIM/04293/2019), and by the following scholarships: (Ref. SAICT2016/FEDER/BIO4DIA/BTI) and (SFRH/BD/146489/2019)

Bacteriófagos no tratamento de feridas

As infecções bacterianas, particularmente as causadas por bactérias resistentes aos antibióticos, permanecem a principal causa de morte entre pacientes hospitalizados com queimaduras e feridas. Para além da terapêutica sistémica, um elemento-chave na gestão de feridas infectadas é a aplicação local de antimicrobianos eficazes. Os bacteriófagos (ou fagos) têm demonstrado um elevado potencial de cura no tratamento de feridas infectadas com estirpes bacterianas resistentes aos antibióticos.Bacterial infections, particularly the ones caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria, remain as the main cause of death among hospitalized patients with burns and ulcers. Besides systemic therapy, a key element on wound management is the local application of effective antimicrobial agents. Bacteriophages (or phages) have been shown as promising candidates (used alone or as complementary to antibiotic therapy) to target antibiotic-resistant bacteria on wound treatment

BIO4DIA: Early detection and monitoring of metabolic progression of type 2 diabetes

According to the latest International Diabetes Federation 2015 report, the total health expenditure with type 2 diabetes (T2D) spent globally was of 673 billion USD in 2015 and it expected that this effort increases up to 802 billion in 2040. Additionally, patients experienced a series of complications, ranging from eye, cardiovascular, and kidney disease as well as pregnancy complications, nerve damage, foot infections and impaired regeneration. Based on the most recent research in this area the cornerstone of treatment of T2D is the adoption of a healthy diet, increased physical activity and maintenance of a normal body weight and those are modifiable risk factors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Does body mass index influence surgical options and overall survival in breast cancer patients?

Obesity is a relevant risk factor in breast cancer (BC), but little is known about the effects of overweight and obesity in surgical outcomes of BC patients. The aim of this study is to analyse surgical options and associated overall survival (OS) in overweight and obese women with BC. In this study, 2143 women diagnosed between 2012 and 2016 at the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO-Porto) were included, and the clinicopathological information was retrieved from the institutional database. Patients were stratified by body mass index (BMI). Statistical analysis included Pearson's chi-squared test with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Multinomial, binary logistic regression and cox proportional-hazards model were also performed to calculate odd ratios and hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for adjusted and non-adjusted models. The results revealed no statistical difference in histological type, topographic localization, tumour stage and receptor status and in the number of surgical interventions. Overweight women have increased probability to be subjected to sentinel node biopsy. Obese and overweight women are more likely to be submitted to conservative surgery and contrariwise, less likely to undergo total mastectomy. Patients submitted to conservative surgery and not submitted to total mastectomy had a favourable OS although without statistical significance. No significant differences were observed in OS when stratified by BMI. Our results revealed significant variations regarding the surgical options in overweight and obese patients, but these were not translated in OS difference. More research is recommended to better address treatment options in overweight and obese BC patients.Open access funding provided by FCT vertical bar FCCN (b-on). This research was supported by the FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia by a scholarship granted to Carla Luis (SFRH/BD/146489/2019)

A retrospective study in tumour characteristics and clinical outcomes of overweight and obese women with breast cancer

Introduction Obesity and breast cancer are two major pathologies closely associated with increasing incidence and mortality rates, especially amongst women. The association between both diseases have been thoroughly discussed but much is still to uncover. Aim The aim of this study is to analyse tumour characteristics and clinical outcomes of overweight and obese women to disclosure potential associations and better understand the impact of obesity in breast cancer. Materials and methods Clinicopathological information of 2246 women were extracted from the institutional database of comprehensive cancer centre in Portugal diagnosed between 2012 and 2016. Women were stratified according to body mass index as normal, overweight, and obese. Patients’ demographic information and tumour features (age, family history, topographic localization, laterality, histological type, and receptor status) were taken as independent variables and overall survival, tumour stage, differentiation grade and bilaterality were considered clinical outcomes. Results The main results reveal that overweight and obesity are predominantly associated with worse outcomes in breast cancer patients. Obese patients present larger (p-value: 0.002; OR 1.422; 95% CI 1.134–1.783) and more poorly differentiated tumours (p-value: 0.002; OR 1.480; 95% CI 1.154–1.898) and tend to have lower overall survival although without statistical significance (p-value: 0.117; OR 1.309; 95% CI 0.934–1.833). Overweighted women are more likely to have bilateral breast cancer (p-value: 0.017; OR 3.076; 95% CI 1.225–7.722) than obese women. The results also reveal that overweight women present less distant metastasis (p-value: 0.024; OR 0.525; 95%CI 0.299–0.920). Topographic localization and laterality did not achieve statistical significance.Open access funding provided by FCT|FCCN (b-on). Author C.L. has received research support by “FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia” (Grant number [SFRH/BD/146489/2019])