IN VITRO AND IN VIVO REMOVAL OF ORAL ANTIDIABETIC AGENTS (METFORMIN) USING ACTIVATED CARBONS

Diabetes is the most worldwide common chronic disease, according the International Diabetes Federation [1], more than 32 million citizens living in the European Union have diabetes, representing nearly 10% of the population, to which we should add equal number of people suffering from impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes prevalence is growing at alarming rate worldwide, being of particular relevance the type 2 diabetes. Nowadays 285 million people worldwide live with diabetes and it is expected that this numbers will increase by 20% until 2030 due to obesity and the ageing of the population [1]. This growth leads to an increasing consumption of drugs such as oral antidiabetics. Metformin is one of the active principles most commonly used for this purpose being among the pharmaceuticals with the highest production numbers worldwide to treat type 2 diabetes because is cheap, has high level of tolerance and when used in the prescribed dosage is very secure with minimal side effects. However, in case of overdose of metformin upon a ingestion of more than 10 times the prescribed dosage, accidentally or on propose, lactic acidosis and low blood pressure can occur. Overdoses with metformin are relatively uncommon, but may have serious consequences, if medical attention is not given on time, it may lead to coma and ultimately death Because of its spread use another problem must be taken into consideration, which needs to be addressed, the occurrence of metformin residues in sewage and surface waters due to improper discharge of the non-used tablets to regular garbage [2]. This situation is becoming a serious problem of environmental pollution and public health. This paper reports the use of activated carbon produced from biomass for the removal of metformin in 2 different settings. On one hand, from aqueous solutions and, in another hand, from simulated biological fluids (gastric and intestinal) conjugated with in vivo testing

Which emoticons are in cheese? – a study linking psychological aspects with sensory perception

Which emotions are in cheese? - a study linking psychological aspects with sensory perception David Guedes1, Carla Simões2, Vlademir Silva2, Fernando Capela-Silva2, Cristina Pinheiro2, Raquel Lucas2, Sofia Tavares3, Elsa Lamy2 1Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. 2Universidade de Evora, Portugal. 3 Universidade de Evora, Portugal Abstract Food preferences play a major role in food choices and consequent dietary habits. It is known that foods are associated to emotions and positive emotions are frequently associated to preference and intake, whereas negative emotions result in rejection. However, one food item is associated to certain emotions by some persons and to different emotions by others. Another factor known to influence food preferences is sensory perception. Also, in this case, variations among individuals exist in the way they perceive the sensory characteristics of a food. Taste, aroma and texture sensitivity can be a factor influencing sensory ratings and consequently preferences. Based on the thought that different factors affect food preferences, why not to study them together? We did perform a study aimed at evaluating: 1) how emotions, individuals’’ psychological characteristics, food sensory evaluation and taste sensitivity affect the hedonic value and preference of foods; 2) and how these several aspects are inter-related. Cheese is a product with marked characteristics, with a variety of products with different sensory characteristics. This is a type of product that dichotomize individuals: some love it and some hate it. Moreover, for the same individual, one type of cheese can be associated with pleasure and another type totally rejected. For these reasons, cheese was the product choose for this study. 231 individuals participated in this study. Five different types of cheese were given and, for each of them, each person was asked to point the intensity with which each emotion was perceived, and with which each sensory parameter. Moreover, for each cheese, individuals rated hedonics. Besides this, individuals were subjected to taste sensitivity tests and answered two questionnaires: 1) one for food nomophobia; 2) another for psychological profile. The results from this study will be presented and detailed discussed. Keywords psychology, emotions, sensory evaluation, taste, food preference

Mediterranean Diet as a Healthy, Sustainable, and Secure Food Pattern

Despite the recognized advantages of Mediterranean Diet (MD), the adherence to it decreased with modern lifestyle, where the time dedicated to acquisition, preparation/confection of food and meals diminished. At the same time, Mediterranean regions face a growth in the levels of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, sometimes together with undernutrition that affects other parts of the population. This chapter make a presentation about MD as a sustainable food system, essential to promote food security, at the same time that the methods of food production and consumption must respect the environment, maintain biodiversity, and economic society valorisation. Also, it shows MD associated with several factors such as gender, marital status, education level, lifestyle, and body weight. Maintaining the traditional MD pattern is crucial for public health, particularly in pandemic contexts such as COVID-19 where it shows the opportunity and relevance of adopt and promote MD as a healthy and sustainable diet

The Use of Electrophoresis for the Study of Saliva Involvement in Ingestive Behavior

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Association between Salivary Leptin Levels and Taste Perception in Children

The satiety inducing hormone leptin acts not only at central nervous system but also at peripheral level. Leptin receptors are found in several sense related organs, including the mouth. A role of leptin in sweet taste response has been suggested but, until now, studies have been based on in vitro experiments, or in assessing the levels of the hormone in circulation. The present study investigated whether the levels of leptin in saliva are related to taste perception in children and whether Body Mass Index (BMI) affects such relationship. Sweet and bitter taste sensitivity was assessed for 121 children aged 9-10 years and unstimulated whole saliva was collected for leptin quantification, using ELISA technique. Children females with lower sweet taste sensitivity presented higher salivary leptin levels, but this is only in the normal weight ones. For bitter taste, association between salivary leptin and caffeine threshold detection was observed only in preobese boys, with higher levels of salivary hormone in low sensitive individuals. This study is the first presenting evidences of a relationship between salivary leptin levels and taste perception, which is sex and BMI dependent. The mode of action of salivary leptin at taste receptor level should be elucidated in future studies.FC

Effect of acclimatisation in physiological parameters of high-yielding dairy cows

Heat stress alter the physiological status and the energetic balance in high producing animals. Acclimatisation is a thermoregulatory adaptation to heat stress with detrimental effects on productivity. We hypothesised that high-yielding dairy cows (HP; ≥9,000 kg – 305 days in milk; n=7) suffer a more significant influence of elevated environmental temperatures than low-yielding cows (LP; <9,000 kg – 305 DIM; n=6). Physiological and milk composition data was collected in summer (5 days with mean environmental temperatures of 23.5 °C – heat stress) and winter (5 days with mean environmental temperature of 6.6 °C – thermoneutrality). Respiratory rate (HP: 63.95±12.35; LP: 64.34±13.67 movements/minute), sweat rate (HP: 77.70±48,90; LP: 75.86±45.02 g/m2/h) rectal temperature (HP: 38,87±0,72; LP: 38,76±0,63 °C) were significantly higher in summer than in winter across both groups, indicating a response to mild heat stress. Plasma triiodothyronine levels were lower in HP than LP in summer, indicating a higher degree of acclimatisation in HP cows. Haematocrit and hemoglobulin were significantly higher in summer but not different between groups. Regarding milk production, HP produced more milk than LP, but the difference between groups was shorter in summer than winter (17.90% and 22,30%, respectively). There were no differences in milk parameters within groups, except urea in the summer period (293.62 mg/kg and 253.69 mg/kg for HP and LP, respectively). Milk fat and protein were significantly lower in summer than winter. These results showed that elevated environmental temperatures alter the physiological status in both groups. Cows with different milk yield had similar first responses to heat stress. However, during the acclimatisation process, HP decreased metabolism rate while alterations in nitrogen pathways were observed

Designing menus to shape consumers’ perception of traditional gastronomy: does it work for the Portuguese Alentejo cuisine?

ABSTRACT: Restaurant menus have been shown to be important communicating and selling tools. In this online experimental study, we focused on the role of descriptive menus in influencing food choice and shaping customers’ perception of a traditional restaurant. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two menu conditions. In the intervention menu, five traditional dishes from the region of Alentejo (Portugal) were described using sensory (e.g., “fresh”) and authenticity (e.g., “genuine”) labels, while in the control condition, the dish name and its ingredients were presented with no further description. No significant differences were found regarding hedonic expectations, choice intention or willingness-to-pay for any of the individual dishes. However, participants in the intervention condition imagined the restaurant to have better service and ambience and serving tastier and fresher dishes. This study adds to the evidence suggesting the potential impact of menus in shaping consumers’ expectations of restaurants’ service quality, which in turn may affect how people perceive and assess their dining experience

Genetic variation in autophagy-related genes influences the risk and phenotype of Buruli ulcer

Introduction Buruli ulcer (BU) is a severe necrotizing human skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Clinically, presentation is a sum of these diverse pathogenic hits subjected to critical immune-regulatory mechanisms. Among them, autophagy has been demonstrated as a cellular process of critical importance. Since microtubules and dynein are affected by mycolactone, the critical pathogenic exotoxin produced by M. ulcerans, cytoskeleton-related changes might potentially impair the autophagic process and impact the risk and progression of infection. Objective Genetic variants in the autophagy-related genes NOD2, PARK2 and ATG16L1 has been associated with susceptibility to mycobacterial diseases. Here, we investigated their association with BU risk, its severe phenotypes and its progression to an ulcerative form. Methods Genetic variants were genotyped using KASPar chemistry in 208 BU patients (70.2% with an ulcerative form and 28% in severe WHO category 3 phenotype) and 300 healthy endemic controls. Results The rs1333955 SNP in PARK2 was significantly associated with increased susceptibility to BU [odds ratio (OR), 1.43; P = 0.05]. In addition, both the rs9302752 and rs2066842 SNPs in NOD2 gee significantly increased the predisposition of patients to develop category 3 (OR, 2.23; P = 0.02; and OR 12.7; P = 0.03, respectively, whereas the rs2241880 SNP in ATG16L1 was found to significantly protect patients from presenting the ulcer phenotype (OR, 0.35; P = 0.02). Conclusion Our findings indicate that specific genetic variants in autophagy-related genes influence susceptibility to the development of BU and its progression to severe phenotypes.The research leading to these results received funding from the Health Services of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian under the grant Proc.N°94776 LJ; from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), cofunded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2—O Novo 267 Norte); from the Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN) through the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) and from the Projeto Estratégico – LA 26 – 2013–2014 (PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013). JFM received an individual QREN fellowship (UMINHO/BPD/14/2014); CCu and AGF received an individual FCT fellowship (SFRH/BPD/96176/2013 and SFRH/BPD/68547/2010, respectively); and AC received an FCT contract (IF/00735/2014). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Prevalence of fibromyalgia in a low socioeconomic status population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of fibromyalgia, as well as to assess the major symptoms of this syndrome in an adult, low socioeconomic status population assisted by the primary health care system in a city in Brazil.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We cross-sectionally sampled individuals assisted by the public primary health care system (n = 768, 35–60 years old). Participants were interviewed by phone and screened about pain. They were then invited to be clinically assessed (304 accepted). Pain was estimated using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Fibromyalgia was assessed using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), as well as screening for tender points using dolorimetry. Statistical analyses included Bayesian Statistics and the Kruskal-Wallis Anova test (significance level = 5%).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the phone-interview screening, we divided participants (n = 768) in three groups: No Pain (NP) (n = 185); Regional Pain (RP) (n = 388) and Widespread Pain (WP) (n = 106). Among those participating in the clinical assessments, (304 subjects), the prevalence of fibromyalgia was 4.4% (95% confidence interval [2.6%; 6.3%]). Symptoms of pain (VAS and FIQ), feeling well, job ability, fatigue, morning tiredness, stiffness, anxiety and depression were statically different among the groups. In multivariate analyses we found that individuals with FM and WP had significantly higher impairment than those with RP and NP. FM and WP were similarly disabling. Similarly, RP was no significantly different than NP.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Fibromyalgia is prevalent in the low socioeconomic status population assisted by the public primary health care system. Prevalence was similar to other studies (4.4%) in a more diverse socioeconomic population. Individuals with FM and WP have significant impact in their well being.</p

Comparison of salivary proteome of children with different sensitivities for bitter and sweet tastes: association with body mass index

Background/objectives: Oral sensorial perception is a key aspect in food choices and knowing the mechanisms modulating such perception is of major importance in the context of child obesity, which is reaching high rates in Mediterranean countries. Salivary proteome has been linked to taste sensitivity in adults. The aim of this study was to search for differences in salivary proteomes of children with different bitter or sweet taste sensitivities and to assess if these potential differences are associated with their body mass index percentile (BMI percentile). Subjects/methods: 387 children aged 8-9 years old were assessed for BMI percentile and classified according to their sensitivity to bitter and sweet tastes, according to their caffeine and sucrose detection thresholds, respectively. Saliva protein composition was compared among taste sensitivity groups, taking into account BMI percentile and gender, using gel-based proteomics approaches, coupled to mass spectrometry for protein identification. Results: Among the salivary proteins related to bitter taste sensitivity, higher levels of cystatins were observed in bitter-sensitive children, in the case of those of normal weight, and in bitter low-sensitive, in the case of overweight children. For sweetness, the relationship between saliva and taste perception was also dependent on BMI percentile, with several proteins (including salivary cystatins) differing between taste sensitivity groups, with disparities arising between normal-weight and overweight children. Cystatin isoforms A, B and SA were observed to be considerably increased in saliva from obese children. Conclusions: Salivary proteome is related with sensitivities to bitter and sweet tastes in children, but the association is dependent on BMI percentile and gender