Estado Confusional Agudo após Corticoterapia Inalada

Background: The connection between corticotherapy and neuropsychiatric symptoms is widely known, being one of the first questions we need to assess when presenting with first episode psychiatric symptoms or confusional state. Aims: To date, data on cases related to inhaled corticotherapy and neuropsychiatric effects is scarce. In this paper we describe a rare case in a young woman. Methods: The clinical case presented led us to try to understand the data published on the subject in order to discuss it in greater length. Results and Conclusions: We present and discuss a 27-year-old patient’s case, with no previous psychiatric disease, who was admitted to our Psychiatric ward after the onset of severe acute behavioural disturbance characterized by aggressiveness, visual and auditory hallucinatory activity, misidentification and altered conscience status. It was later found that seven days earlier she had been prescribed inhaled corticotherapy for a minor respiratory infection. A few days after corticotherapy withdrawal, the clinical symptoms improved significantly.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An overview of mycotoxins and toxigenic fungi in Portugal : data collected from 1999 to July 2003

Fungi are cosmopolitan and ubiquitous and have a strong ecological link with vegetable products. The natural mycobiota existing in conjunction with food and feed are of interest to society, since many of these fungi can produce compounds of interest (e.g., antibiotics, enzymes or organic acids). On the other hand, they may also be detrimental by promoting food and feed deterioration. Often, the mycobiota of food commodities is dominated by toxigenic species, such as Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium, which may produce mycotoxins with effects on human and animal health. Aflatoxins, ochratoxins, patulin and the Fusarium toxins are considered to be the most important of the mycotoxins. Losses arising from the presence of mycotoxins have a large impact on the economy of countries

Extraction of macromolecules in aqueous two-phase systems based on crude galactomannans and its derivatives

Aqueous two-phase systems have found use in biochemical research lor the separation and purification of macromolecules, cells and cell fragments. In order to minimize the cost of two-phase systems based on purified polymers (such as fractionated dextran and Reppal PES), new aqueous two-phase systems, formed by crude polymers, haVe been introduced. In this work, partition properties of macromolecules in poly(ethylene glycol) I locust bean gum; guar gum or derivatised guar gum are reported. The effect of poly(ethlylene glycol) molecular weight, ionic strength, affinity ligands, pH and temperature on partition behaviour and phase diagram is identical in this systems and in traditional poly(ethylene glycol) I dextran arid poly( ethylene glycol) I Reppal PES. Its application for enzyme affinity extraction is investigated. Two-phase systems based on such crude polymers may have"the drawback of their degree of purification, which may interfere with the separation procedure. However, this should not prevent its successful use in aqueous two-phase polymer extractions. Results clearly indicate that these systems are an interesting alternative to conventional extraction systems

Validation of a SPE clean-up method for ochratoxin A determination in red wine

ICFC 2017 - International Conference on Food Contaminants (Book of Abstracts)The quality of Portuguese wines has improved considerably during the last decades as modern viticulture and enological practices were adopted. To maintain high quality standards it is also important to control any hazard that may jeopardize wine safety. On e potential hazard for wines is the occurrence of the mycotoxin, ochratoxin A (OTA). This fungal metabolite occurs and exerts its toxic effects in small quantities, thus sensitive and reliable methods are required for monitoring its occurrence in foods. In order to minimize the interfering effect of the matrix and improve the selectivity and sensitivity of the analytical method, a concentration and cleaning step is often necessary. Solid phase extraction (SPE) is a technique with numerous advantages for that purpose. The objective of this work was to optimize and validate an analytical method for the determination of OTA in red wine using the SPE column Strata-X-A (Phenomenex). A not contaminated local red wine was fortified with OTA at concentrations of 0.0 5 to 10 μg/L, samples were clean - up using Strata - X - A columns in triplicate, analyzed by HPLC with fluorescence detection, and method recoveries, selectivity, stability, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ) determined. The method showed a linear response within the concentration range of 0.05 to 10 μg/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.9999. Within this concentration range, recoveries varied between 111% and 87%, respectively. The intra - day RSD was below 8%. The LOD and LO Q of the method was 0.005 and 0.015 μg/L, respectively. Portuguese red wines were analyzed using this method. Four wines did not reveal any OTA, and seven add OTA in concentrations that ranged between 0.02 and 0.441 μg/L. In conclusion, 20 years after the first studies reporting the presence of OTA in wines, levels of this mycotoxin in Portuguese wines are still lowinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aflatoxigenic Fungi and Aflatoxins in Portuguese Almonds

Aflatoxin contamination of nuts is an increasing concern to the consumer's health. Portugal is a big producer of almonds, but there is no scientific knowledge on the safety of those nuts, in terms of mycotoxins. The aim of this paper was to study the incidence of aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxin contamination of 21 samples of Portuguese almonds, and its evolution throughout the various stages of production. All fungi belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi were identified and tested for their aflatoxigenic ability. Almond samples were tested for aflatoxin contamination by HPLC-fluorescence. In total, 352 fungi belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi were isolated from Portuguese almonds: 127 were identified as A. flavus (of which 28% produced aflatoxins B), 196 as typical or atypical A. parasiticus (all producing aflatoxins B and G), and 29 as A. tamarii (all nonaflatoxigenic). Aflatoxins were detected in only one sample at 4.97 μg/kg

Enzyme purification with aqueous two-phase systems: comparison between systems composed of pure polymers and systems composed of crude polymers

The main drawback when using aqueous two-phase systems for macromolecule purification is the high cost of most polymers used. The purification of an enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, from a crude extract of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was tested in systems composed of poly(ethylene glycol) and a crude hydroxypropyl starch or Reppal PES 100, a purified fraction of hydroxypropyl starch. Purification factors measured for the enzyme were very similar in both systems (between 0.8 and 1.4 for both systems in the upper phase). However, systems composed of Reppal PES present a greater recovery of enzyme, between 77% and 100% versus 60% and 100%, while systems composed of crude hydroxypropyl starch exhibit a larger Δlog K for the tested ligand, 1.26 versus 0.81.Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica (JNICT)

Mycotoxin-producing and other fungi isolated from grapes for wine production, with particular emphasis on ochratoxin A

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that have been detected in food commodities, including grapes and wine. A survey was conducted to assess mycotoxin-producing fungi in grapes destined for wine production. The mycotoxigenic capacity of the isolates was tested in culture media. Grapes were analyzed by plating methods from 4 Portuguese wine-growing regions at 3 maturation stages (pea berry, early veraison and ripe berry) between 2001 and 2003. From the 10 602 strains detected and identified, the most frequent genera were Cladosporium (25%), Alternaria (24%), Botrytis (15%), Penicillium (9%) and Aspergillus (8%). Most (92.0%) were nonmycotoxigenic or produced mycotoxins of unknown relevance to health. Potential producers of ochratoxin A (OTA) (Aspergillus niger aggregate, 5.4%, Aspergillus carbonarius, 0.6%) and trichothecenes (Fusarium spp., 0.4%; Trichothecium roseum, 0.8%) were the most frequent mycotoxigenic species isolated from grapes. OTA was detected in all cultures of A. carbonarius and 4% of A. niger aggregate strains. There was potential for OTA and trichothecene production in grapes by A. carbonarius and T. roseum, respectively, prior to harvest time. Data presented herein indicate that A. carbonarius is most likely to occur in vineyards with Mediterranean climates, while T. roseum is more likely to occur in more temperate climates, and is associated with gray rot. The present work emphasizes the need to use grapes under good condition so as to reduce the risk of contamination with mycotoxigenic fungi and subsequent mycotoxin occurrence in wine.EC - Quality of Life Program (QoL), Key Action 1 (KA1) on Food, Nutrition and Health - contract number QLK1-CT-2001-01761, Wine-Ochra Risk.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - grant SFRH/BD/1436/2000

Enzyme production by solid-state fermentation

Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a fermentation process which uses moist solid supports (mainly, agro-industrial residues) as substrate. This process has many advantages when compared with submerged fermentation (SmF) and is being successfully exploited for the production of enzymes and secondary metabolites. Its advantages include higher fermentation productivity, higher concentration of the products, less catabolic repression, low water and energy demanding, less effluent generation, and requirement of simple fermentation equipments [1]. This research group has been working in the production of fungi enzymes using SSF. Recently, we reported the production, isolation and purification of an ochratoxin A (OTA) hydrolytic enzyme [2]. This enzyme was produced by SSF on wheat germ and purified from the culture filtrate by acetone precipitation and anion exchange chromatography. The isolated enzyme is a metalloenzyme which can degrade OTA at pH 7.5 and 37 ºC, allowing its detoxification. OTA is a mycotoxin produced by several fungi in some agricultural commodities being present in food and feed products. Presently, we are assessing the application of this enzyme on detoxification processes for some agricultural commodities