Current challenges and future opportunities of phage therapy

Antibiotic resistance is a major public health challenge worldwide, whose implications for global health might be devastating if novel antibacterial strategies are not quickly developed. As natural predators of bacteria, (bacterio)phages may play an essential role in escaping such a dreadful future. The rising problem of antibiotic resistance has revived the interest in phage therapy and important developments have been achieved over the last years. But where do we stand today and what can we expect from phage therapy in the future? This is the question we set to answer in this review. Here, we scour the outcomes of human phage therapy clinical trials and case reports, and address the major barriers that stand in the way of using phages in clinical settings. We particularly address the potential of phage resistance to hinder phage therapy and discuss future avenues to explore the full capacity of phage therapy.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the project PTDC/BBB-BSS/6471/2014 ( POCI-01–0145-FEDER-016643); the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01–0145-FEDER-000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020–Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. DPP and GP are supported by FCT through the grants SFRH/BPD/116187/2016 and SFRH/BD/117365/2016, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Organic–inorganic hybrid sol–gel material loaded with an heterocyclic aldehyde with potential application for Cu(II) detection

Organic–inorganic hybrids (OIH) are a versatile type of material that joins organic and inorganic moieties in a polymeric matrix and can be easily synthesized by the sol–gel method. OIH can be doped with chemosensors to yield an ion-sensitive polymeric matrix that can be used in the design of a more complex sensory device. Heterocyclic aldehydes show promising optical properties for supramolecular interactions with different ions through molecular recognition and changes in the optical signal. Cu(II) is a cation with biological and environmental relevance, being an appealing target for the design of chemosensors. Considering the group’s work on OIH materials and heterocyclic chromophores/fluorophores, this study reports the synthesis and characterization of an OIH based on Jeffamine THF-170 and 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane (3-ICPTES), doped with a previously synthesized heterocyclic aldehyde that features a naked-eye detection of Cu(II). Additionally, the OIH material shows color changes in the presence of Cu(II). Therefore, the obtained material shows promising properties to be used in the development of an optical fiber sensor for Cu(II) detection

New dinitrophenyl hydrazones as colorimetric probes for anions

Anion sensing is a dynamic research field due to biological and environmental importance of some organic or inorganic anions. Hydrazones show promising properties in the design of anion chemosensors due to the presence of proton donor and acceptor sites in their structure. In this work, two novel dinitrophenyl hydrazones, functionalized with a quinoline moiety were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques. The interaction between the new compounds 3a-b with different organic and inorganic anions was assessed. The two compounds showed a change of color from light yellow to magenta in the presence of H2PO4-, CH3COO-, BzO-, CN-, and F-. The interactions were analyzed by spectrophotometric titrations and the stoichiometry of the interaction was assessed by the method of continuous variation. Compound 3b showed a remarkable sensitivity to CN- with a limit of detection of 0.35 µM. The interaction of compound 3b with CN- and F- was also analyzed by 1H NMR titrations showing that increasing concentration of anion induces a deprotonation of NH and OH groups.Thanks are due to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE-QRENEU for financial support through the Chemistry Research Centre of the University of Minho (Ref. CQ/UM (UID/QUI/00686/2020)), and a PhD grant to R.P.C.L.S. (SFRH/BD/145639/2019). The NMR spectrometer Bruker Avance III 400 is part of the National NMR Network (PTNMR) and was financially partially supported by Infrastructure Project No. 022161 (co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE 2020, POCI and PORL, and FCT through PIDDAC)

Organic versus conventional tomatoes: Influence on physicochemical parameters, bioactive compounds and sensorial attributes

The effect of organic and conventional agricultural systems on the physicochemical parameters, bioactive compounds content, and sensorial attributes of tomatoes (‘‘Redondo’’ cultivar) was studied. The influence on phytochemicals distribution among peel, pulp and seeds was also accessed. Organic tomatoes were richer in lycopene (+20%), vitamin C (+30%), total phenolics (+24%) and flavonoids (+21%) and had higher (+6%) in vitro antioxidant activity. In the conventional fruits, lycopene was mainly concentrated in the pulp, whereas in the organic ones, the peel and seeds contained high levels of bioactive compounds. Only the phenolic compounds had a similar distribution among the different fractions of both types of tomatoes. Furthermore, a sensorial analysis indicated that organic farming improved the gustative properties of this tomato cultivar

Metales traza (Cu, Zn, Cd y Pb) en peces juveniles de las guarderías estuáricas a lo largo de la costa portuguesa

Organic and inorganic pollution can impact organisms directly and affect condition, growth and survival of juvenile fish which use estuaries as nurseries, and thereby affect marine adult populations quantitatively and qualitatively. Trace element contamination (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) in juveniles of commercial fish Solea solea, Solea senegalensis, Platichthys flesus, Diplodus vulgaris and Dicentrarchus labrax collected in putative nurseries of the main Portuguese estuaries (with diverse intensities and sources of anthropogenic pressures) was determined via atomic absorption spectrometry. Contamination was significantly different among species. Similar levels of contamination were found among estuaries, except for D. vulgaris. Cu and Zn concentrations ranged from 1.0 to 2.1 and 14 to 59 μg g-1 muscle dry weight respectively; while Cd and Pb concentrations were very low. The results indicate that juvenile migration to off-shore habitats is associated with low export of contamination, and no particular estuary increases the potential contamination of adult stocks. This knowledge is of the utmost importance in view of the ecological and economical value of these species and their use of estuarine areas as nurseries.La contaminación orgánica e inorgánica puede afectar a los organismos, a saber al estado fisiológico, crecimiento y supervivencia de los peces juveniles los cuales utilizan los estuarios como guarderías; afectando de forma cuantitativa y cualitativa a la poblaciones marinas adultas. La contaminación de elementos traza (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) en las formas juveniles de los peces comerciales Solea solea, Solea senegalensis, Platichthys flesus, Diplodus vulgaris y Dicentrarchus labrax recolectados en guarderías putativas de los principales estuarios portugueses (con diversos tipos e intensidades de presiones antropogénicas) fueron determinados por espectrometría de absorción atómica. La contaminación era significativamente diferente entre especies. Sobre todo se encontraron niveles similares de contaminación entre estuarios, excepto para D. vulgaris. Las concentraciones de Cu y Zn oscilaban desde 1.0 a 2.1 y desde 14 a 59 μg g-1 peso seco muscular, respectivamente, mientras que las concentraciones de Cd y Pb eran muy bajas. Los resultados indican que la migración de los juveniles a mar abierto está asociada a la baja exportación de la contaminación y que los estuarios no amplifican particularmente el potencial de contaminación de los adultos. En vista del valor ecológico y económico de estas especies y del uso de las zonas estuáricas como guarderías, este conocimiento es de vital importancia

Quinoline-based hydrazone derivative as a biocide chemosensor: synthesis and sensing studies

Tributyltin (TBT) is an organic biocide used on antifouling paints to avoid biofouling on boats and submersed structures. It is toxic to a variety of aquatic organisms and was banned by the Rotterdam Convention in 1998. TBT sensing is an important issue as the biocide is still affecting aquatic environments as some countries did not sign the convention and are still using it. Currently, TBT monitoring methods are based on sampling and laboratory analysis, which is expensive, time-consuming, and require expert users. Therefore, a new simple and fast TBT sensing method would be of high interest. In this work, a new quinoline-based hydrazone derivative was synthesized by a condensation reaction in 67% yield. The new compound was characterized by the usual spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques. The preliminary chemosensory study of the hydrazone derivative in the presence of TBT in acetonitrile solution resulted in a color change from colorless to red together with the appearance of fluorescence. This interaction was confirmed by spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric titrations, which revealed that 17 equivalents of TBT led to the maximum optical signal in terms of fluorescence intensity and absorbance.This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETE-QRENEU through the Chemistry Research Centre of the University of Minho (Ref. CQ/UM UID/QUI/00686/2020) as well as a PhD grant to R. P. C. L. Sousa (SFRH/BD/145639/2019)

Trace metals (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb) in juvenile fish from estuarine nurseries along the Portuguese coast

Organic and inorganic pollution can impact organisms directly and affect condition, growth and survival of juvenile fish which use estuaries as nurseries, and thereby affect marine adult populations quantitatively and qualitatively. Trace element contamination (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) in juveniles of commercial fish Solea solea, Solea senegalensis, Platichthys flesus, Diplodus vulgaris and Dicentrarchus labrax collected in putative nurseries of the main Portuguese estuaries (with diverse intensities and sources of anthropogenic pressures) was determined via atomic absorption spectrometry. Contamination was significantly different among species. Similar levels of contamination were found among estuaries, except for D. vulgaris. Cu and Zn concentrations ranged from 1.0 to 2.1 and 14 to 59 μg g-1 muscle dry weight respectively; while Cd and Pb concentrations were very low. The results indicate that juvenile migration to off-shore habitats is associated with low export of contamination, and no particular estuary increases the potential contamination of adult stocks. This knowledge is of the utmost importance in view of the ecological and economical value of these species and their use of estuarine areas as nurseries

Phenylketonuria: Protein content and amino acids profile of dishes for phenylketonuric patients. The relevance of phenylalanine

Phenylketonuria is an inborn error of metabolism, involving, in most cases, a deficient activity of phenylalanine hydroxylase. Neonatal diagnosis and a prompt special diet (low phenylalanine and natural-protein restricted diets) are essential to the treatment. The lack of data concerning phenylalanine contents of processed foodstuffs is an additional limitation for an already very restrictive diet. Our goals were to quantify protein (Kjeldahl method) and amino acid (18) content (HPLC/fluorescence) in 16 dishes specifically conceived for phenylketonuric patients, and compare the most relevant results with those of several international food composition databases. As might be expected, all the meals contained low protein levels (0.67–3.15 g/100 g) with the highest ones occurring in boiled rice and potatoes. These foods also contained the highest amounts of phenylalanine (158.51 and 62.65 mg/100 g, respectively). In contrast to the other amino acids, it was possible to predict phenylalanine content based on protein alone. Slight deviations were observed when comparing results with the different food composition databases

Heterocyclic Aldehydes Based on Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene Core: Synthesis and Preliminary Studies as Ion Optical Chemosensors

Heterocyclic aldehydes show a variety of optical properties and the versatility of their reactivity allows them to yield a wide range of more complex compounds, with application in areas such as medicinal, materials and supramolecular chemistry. The biological and environmental relevance of certain molecules and ions turns them into targets for the design of molecular recognition systems. Recently, heterocyclic aldehydes have been reported in the literature as ion chemosensors. Following the group's work on optical chemosensors, for the detection and quantification of ions and molecules with environmental and medicinal relevance, this work reports the synthesis and characterization of two heterocyclic aldehydes based on the thieno[3,2-b]thiophene core, by Suzuki coupling, as well as the synthesis of the corresponding precursors. Preliminary chemosensory studies for the synthesized heterocyclic aldehydes in the presence of selected cations were also performed, in solution, in order to determine their potential application as optical chemosensors

Unsupervised algorithms to identify potential under-coding of secondary diagnoses in hospitalisations databases in Portugal

Quantifying and dealing with lack of consistency in administrative databases (namely, under-coding) requires tracking patients longitudinally without compromising anonymity, which is often a challenging task. This study aimed to (i) assess and compare different hierarchical clustering methods on the identification of individual patients in an administrative database that does not easily allow tracking of episodes from the same patient; (ii) quantify the frequency of potential under-coding; and (iii) identify factors associated with such phenomena. We analysed the Portuguese National Hospital Morbidity Dataset, an administrative database registering all hospitalisations occurring in Mainland Portugal between 2011–2015. We applied different approaches of hierarchical clustering methods (either isolated or combined with partitional clustering methods), to identify potential individual patients based on demographic variables and comorbidities. Diagnoses codes were grouped into the Charlson an Elixhauser comorbidity defined groups. The algorithm displaying the best performance was used to quantify potential under-coding. A generalised mixed model (GML) of binomial regression was applied to assess factors associated with such potential under-coding. We observed that the hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) + k-means clustering method with comorbidities grouped according to the Charlson defined groups was the algorithm displaying the best performance (with a Rand Index of 0.99997). We identified potential under-coding in all Charlson comorbidity groups, ranging from 3.5% (overall diabetes) to 27.7% (asthma). Overall, being male, having medical admission, dying during hospitalisation or being admitted at more specific and complex hospitals were associated with increased odds of potential under-coding. We assessed several approaches to identify individual patients in an administrative database and, subsequently, by applying HCA + k-means algorithm, we tracked coding inconsistency and potentially improved data quality. We reported consistent potential under-coding in all defined groups of comorbidities and potential factors associated with such lack of completeness. Our proposed methodological framework could both enhance data quality and act as a reference for other studies relying on databases with similar problems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio