Nutritional Composition and Bioactive Properties of Wild Edible Mushrooms from Native Nothofagus Patagonian Forests

Nothofagus forests of the Andean Patagonian region are home to numerous wild edible mushroom (WEM) species with interesting organoleptic characteristics, although many of them have unknown nutritional and nutraceutical profiles. The proximal composition, fatty and organic acids, soluble sugars, phenolic compounds, ergosterol, as well as antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of 17 WEMs were analyzed. Carbohydrates, the most abundant macronutrients, varied between 49.00 g/100 g dw (C. magellanicus) and 89.70 g/100 g dw (F. antarctica). Significantly higher values were found for total fat in G. gargal (5.90 g/100 g dw) followed by A. vitellinus (4.70 g/100 g dw); for crude protein in L. perlatum (36.60 g/100 g dw) followed by L. nuda (30.30 g/100 g dw); and for energy in G. gargal (398 Kcal/100g) and C. hariotii (392 Kcal/100g). The most effective extracts regarding the TBARS antioxidant capacity were those of Ramaria. This is the first time that a study was carried out on the chemical composition of G. sordulenta, C. xiphidipus, F. pumiliae, and L. perlatum. The promotion of sustainable use of WEMs, including their incorporation in functional diets that choose WEMs as nutritious, safe, and healthy foods, and their use in an identity mycogastronomy linked to tourism development, requires the detailed and precise nutritional and nutraceutical information of each species.Fil: Rugolo, Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Mascoloti Spréa, Rafael. Instituto Politécnico de Bragança; PortugalFil: Dias, Maria Inês. Instituto Politecnico de Braganca; PortugalFil: Pires, Tânia C. S. P.. Instituto Politecnico de Braganca; PortugalFil: Añibarro Ortega, Mikel. Instituto Politecnico de Braganca; PortugalFil: Barroetaveña, Carolina. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Caleja, Cristina. Instituto Politecnico de Braganca; PortugalFil: Barros, Lillian. Instituto Politecnico de Braganca; Portuga

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Leishmania Infection in Dogs from Portugal

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Evaluation of the antibacterial activity and colouring capacity of two Hylocereus spp. Epicarps

Betalains are a group of secondary metabolites named chromoalkaloids that are synthesized from tyrosine. These compounds have gained some attention in the last few years mainly due to their interesting bioactive potential, namely antioxidant, antimicrobial, and other bioactive properties [1]. Their strong and vibrant colours are also one of the characteristics by which these compounds have gained visibility in the food and pharmaceutical industries [2]. Betalains can be divided in two groups regarding the colour range: betaxanthins in the orange to yellow range, and betacyanins in the purple to pink range. Thereby, these compounds can be used as natural colouring agents, providing alternatives to the massively used artificial counterparts [3]. Although there are already some natural options in the market, these are not enough to meet the needs of the food industry, due to the growing concern of consumers regarding what they eat.To FCT and FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019); C. Lobo Roriz (SFRH/BD/117995/2016) and T.C.S. Pires (SFRH/BD/129551/2017) grants and National funding by FCT- Foundation for Science and Technology, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for L. Barros contract. This work is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project Mobilizador Norte-01-0247-FEDER-024479:ValorNatural®.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Jitter, Shimmer and HNR classification within gender, tones and vowels in healthy voices

A statistical analysis of the Jitter, Shimmer and Harmonic to Noise Ratio parameters was applied to classify and compare genders, vowels and tones of healthy voices. Different type of speech records has used for the comparison, namely records with sustained vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ at High, Low and Neutral tones. A gender comparison has made denoting differences only in Jitter parameter. The parameters determined in recorded vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ has also compared and the Kruskal Wallis statistical test showed differences for parameters rap, Shim, ShdB, apq3, apq5 and HNR. High, Low and Neutral tones has compared using the same statistical test denoting statistical differences for all Jitter, Shimmer and HNR parameters. A statistical classification of the mean and standard values for these parameters on healthy voices is also presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cold atmospheric plasma, a novel approach against bladder cancer, with higher sensitivity for the high-grade cell line

Antitumor therapies based on Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) are an emerging medical field. In this work, we evaluated CAP effects on bladder cancer. Two bladder cancer cell lines were used, HT-1376 (stage III) and TCCSUP (stage IV). Cell proliferation assays were performed evaluating metabolic activity (MTT assay) and protein content (SRB assay). Cell viability, cell cycle, and mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) were assessed using flow cytometry. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were evaluated by fluorescence. The assays were carried out with different CAP exposure times. For both cell lines, we obtained a significant reduction in metabolic activity and protein content. There was a decrease in cell viability, as well as a cell cycle arrest in S phase. The Δψm was significantly reduced. There was an increase in superoxide and nitric oxide and a decrease in peroxide contents, while GSH content did not change. These results were dependent on the exposure time, with small differences for both cell lines, but overall, they were more pronounced in the TCCSUP cell line. CAP showed to have a promising antitumor effect on bladder cancer, with higher sensitivity for the high-grade cell line.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Protective action of N-acetyl-L-cysteine associated with a polyvalent antivenom on the envenomation induced by Lachesis muta muta (South American bushmaster) in rats

In this study, we examined the potential use of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) in association with a polyvalent antivenom and as stand-alone therapy to reduce the acute local and systemic effects induced by Lachesis muta muta venom in rats. Male Wistar rats (300–350 g) were exposed to L. m. muta venom (1.5 mg/kg – i.m.) and subsequently treated with anti-Bothrops/Lachesis serum (antivenom:venom ratio 1:3 ‘v/w’ – i.p.) and NAC (150 mg/kg – i.p.) separately or in association; the animals were monitored for 120 min to assess changes in temperature, locomotor activity, local oedema formation and the prevalence of haemorrhaging. After this time, animals were anesthetized in order to collect blood samples through intracardiac puncture and then euthanized for collecting tissue samples; the hematological-biochemical and histopathological analyses were performed through conventional methods. L. m. muta venom produced pronounced local oedema, subcutaneous haemorrhage and myonecrosis, with both antivenom and NAC successfully reducing the extent of the myonecrotic lesion when individually administered; their association also prevented the occurrence of subcutaneous haemorrhage. Venom-induced creatine kinase (CK) release was significantly prevented by NAC alone or in combination with antivenom; NAC alone failed to reduce the release of hepatotoxic (alanine aminotransferase) and nephrotoxic (creatinine) serum biomarkers induced by L. m. muta venom. Venom induced significant increase of leucocytes which was also associated with an increase of neutrophils, eosinophils and monocytes; antivenom and NAC partially reduced these alterations, with NAC alone significantly preventing the increase of eosinophils whereas neither NAC or antivenom prevented the increase in monocytes. Venom did not induce changes in the erythrogram parameters. In the absence of a suitable antivenom, NAC has the potential to reduce a number of local and systemic effects caused by L. m. muta venom

Targeting Glutathione and Cystathionine β-Synthase in Ovarian Cancer Treatment by Selenium-Chrysin Polyurea Dendrimer Nanoformulation

The research was funded by iNOVA4Health UID/Multi/04462, a program financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência (FCT-MCTES), through national funds, and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. We also acknowledge funding from FCT-MCTES through project DREAM PTDC/MEC-ONC/29327/2017.Ovarian cancer is the main cause of death from gynecological cancer, with its poor prognosis mainly related to late diagnosis and chemoresistance (acquired or intrinsic) to conventional alkylating and reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating drugs. We and others reported that the availability of cysteine and glutathione (GSH) impacts the mechanisms of resistance to carboplatin in ovarian cancer. Different players in cysteine metabolism can be crucial in chemoresistance, such as the cystine/glutamate antiporter system Xc (xCT) and the H2S-synthesizing enzyme cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) in the pathway of cysteine catabolism. We hypothesized that, by disrupting cysteine metabolic flux, chemoresistance would be reverted. Since the xCT transporter is also able to take up selenium, we used selenium-containing chrysin (SeChry) as a plausible competitive inhibitor of xCT. For that, we tested the effects of SeChry on three different ovarian cancer cell lines (ES2, OVCAR3, and OVCAR8) and in two non-malignant cell lines (HaCaT and HK2). Results showed that, in addition to being highly cytotoxic, SeChry does not affect the uptake of cysteine, although it increases GSH depletion, indicating that SeChry might induce oxidative stress. However, enzymatic assays revealed an inhibitory effect of SeChry toward CBS, thus preventing production of the antioxidant H2S. Notably, our data showed that SeChry and folate-targeted polyurea dendrimer generation four (SeChry@PUREG4-FA) nanoparticles increased the specificity for SeChry delivery to ovarian cancer cells, reducing significantly the toxicity against non-malignant cells. Collectively, our data support SeChry@PUREG4-FA nanoparticles as a targeted strategy to improve ovarian cancer treatment, where GSH depletion and CBS inhibition underlie SeChry cytotoxicity.publishersversionpublishe

Influence of EPICardial adipose tissue in HEART diseases (EPICHEART) study: Protocol for a translational study in coronary atherosclerosis

Accumulation of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and increased risk of coronary events in asymptomatic subjects and low-risk patients, suggesting that EAT promotes atherosclerosis in its early stage. Recent studies have shown that the presence of CAD affects the properties of adjacent EAT, leading to dynamic changes in the molecular players involved in the interplay between EAT and the coronary arteries over the history of the disease. The role of EAT in late-stage CAD has not been investigated.coronárioResumoIntroduc¸ão:Acumulac¸ão de tecido adiposo epicárdico (TAE) tem sido associado a doenc¸acoronária aterosclerótica (DC) e aumento do risco de eventos coronários em indivíduos ass-intomáticos e doentes de baixo risco, sugerindo que o TAE pode promover fases precoces daDC. Estudo recentes mostraram que a presenc¸a de DC afeta as características do TAE adja-cente levando a modificac¸ões dinâmicas nos mediadores envolvidos na comunicac¸ão entre oTAE e as artérias coronárias ao longo da história da DC. O papel doTAE nas fases avanc¸adas daaterosclerose coronária não foi investigado.Objetivos: Através de análise comparativa com o tecido adiposo mediastínico e subcutâneo,pretendemos investigar se o volume do TAE, avaliado por tomografia computadorizada (TC), eo seu proteoma, avaliado por espectrometria de massa técnica de SWATH, estão associados aestadios avanc¸ados da DC numa coorte de estenose aórtica grave.Métodos: O estudo EPICHEART (NCT03280433) é um estudo prospetivo que inclui doentescom estenose aórtica grave referenciados para substituic¸ão eletiva da válvula aórtica, cujoprotocolo envolve avaliac¸ão pré-operatória clínica, nutricional, ecocardiográfica, por TC eangiografia coronária invasiva. Durante a cirurgia cardíaca, colhemos amostras de tecido adi-poso epicárdico, mediastínico e subcutâneo para análise do seu proteoma por espectrometriade massa técnica de SWATH. Adicionalmente, colhemos líquido pericárdico, sangue venoso per-iférico e do seio coronário para investigar mediadores de DC derivados do TAE na circulac¸ãosistémica e local.Conclusão: Desenhámos um estudo de translac¸ão para explorar a associac¸ão da quantidade equalidade do TAE com a DC tardia. Esperamos identificar mediadores da comunicac¸ão recíprocaentre o TAE e as artérias coronárias que estão envolvidos na patogénese das fases avanc¸adas daDC, especialmente, calcificac¸ão coronária, os quais podem servir como novos alvos terapêuticose soluc¸ões de engenharia biomédica para visualizac¸ão da DC