Browsing by Author "Dupond, D."
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Investigação e avaliação de risco: contributo do projeto MYCOMIXPublication . Alvito, Paula; Martins, Carla; Assunção, Ricardo; Silva, M.J.; Louro, H.; Borges, T.; Loureiro, S.; Leal, S.; Dupond, D.; Seljak, B.Sumário: 1. Misturas de micotoxinas nos alimentos – uma realidade 2. Avaliação de risco – alteração de paradigma 3. Desafios associados à avaliação de risco de misturas de micotoxinas em alimentos 4. Projeto MYCOMIX – um caso estudo
- MYCOMIX and INFOGEST: a fruitful collaborationPublication . Alvito, Paula; Assunção, Ricardo; Martins, Carla; Tavares, Ana; Egger, C.; Lea, T.; Dupond, D.Mycotoxins are natural contaminants produced by fungi and its common occurrence in food poses a threat to human health, mainly to vulnerable population groups as children. The MycoMix Project (2013-15) aims to study the occurrence of multiple mycotoxins and toxicity interactions in infant foods and cereals consumed by Portuguese children and try to answer several questions: 1) Are children exposed daily to mycotoxins through food? 2) What are the quality and quantity that characterize this exposure? 3) Can this exposure bring harm to children? In an attempt to elucidate the internal mycotoxin dose that will reach the intestinal tract and can produce toxic effects, several bioavailability studies as well as dissemination activities were performed under collaboration between MYCOMIX and INFOGEST. This fruitful cooperation resulted in: i) two STSMs at laboratories of INFOGEST members: Agroscope (Switzerland) and Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway), on models of gastrointestinal digestion (WG2) and effect of food on health (WG3), respectively, ii) 2 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 2 national MSc dissertations using in vitro digestion models, iii) 7 communications in international and national meetings, iv) organization of a WG meeting in Lisbon, v) collaboration in the 1st WG2 technical training session, vi) attendance of 2 PhD students to training school ”Food Digestion and Human Health”, vii) dissemination of the INFOGEST network as well as its standardized in vitro digestion method in national and international meetings promoted by MYCOMIX (http://www.insa.pt/sites/INSA/Portugues/ComInf/Noticias/Paginas/1_SN_PAS.aspx, November 2014; http://www.icfc2015.com/welcome.htm, April 2015) and in one international post-graduation course in Brasil12, and finally, viii) production of 6 videos concerning the in vitro harmonized food digestion method, set up by members of the WG2 of EU-COST Action (www.youtube.com/channel/UCdc-NPx9kTDGyH_kZCgpQWg).
- Mycotoxins and applicability of in vitro methods of digestion and absorption assessment – the patulin case studyPublication . Assunção, R.M.; Ferreira, M.; Martins, Carla; Dupond, D.; Alvito, PaulaMycotoxins are a wide group of fungal secondary metabolites that exert multiple toxic effects on humans and animals1. Patulin, a mycotoxin with significant public health risk, is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by a wide range of fungal species growing on rotten fruit2. In human health risk assessment, ingestion of food is considered a major route of exposure to many contaminants, although the total amount of an ingested contaminant does not always reflect the amount that is available to the body and exert its toxic effects3. In this study, two in vitro methods were applied to evaluate the bioaccessibility of patulin at different experimental conditions and the intestinal membrane integrity of Caco-2 cells exposed to patulin and cysteine (antioxidant) protective effects. Seven artificially contaminated fruit juices were assayed in the presence or absence of a standard meal showing a significant difference (p=0.001) for bioaccessibility values between contaminated samples alone and combinations with a standard meal4. Different concentrations of patulin and cysteine were assayed in a Caco-2 cells monolayers. At 95 µM, patulin produced a dramatic decrease of transepithelial electrical resistance. This effect was significantly (p=0.016) reduced when 400 µM and 4000 µM of cysteine was added to the cells4. The combination of in vitro digestion models with other techniques using intestinal cell lines offer a more complete picture of what is happening in the digestion and absorption process, as well as the study of beneficial effects of protective agents.
- Patulin and ochratoxin A co-occurrence and their bioaccessibility in processed cereal-based foods: a contribution for Portuguese children risk assessmentPublication . Assunção, Ricardo; Martins, Carla; Dupond, D.; Alvito, PaulaPatulin (PAT) and ochratoxin A (OTA) are well known enteropathogenic mycotoxins that are present in several foodstuffs. Processed cereal-based foods are among the first solid foods eaten by children, a particularly vulnerable population group. There is a lack of knowledge related to the co-occurrence of PAT and OTA in food intended for children consumption and their potential interactions during the digestion process. The present study aims to evaluate, for the first time, the co-occurrence of PAT and OTA in processed cereal-based foods for children consumption, the bioaccessibility of these two mycotoxins, and the contribution of the bioaccessibility data for human health risk assessment. PAT and OTA incidence were 75% and 50%, respectively. These mycotoxins co-occurred in 40% of analysed samples. Bioaccessibility assays revealed mean values of 52% and 56% for PAT, alone and combined with OTA; and 100% and 106% for OTA, alone and combined with PAT. Considering the human health risk assessment, and taking into account the co-occurrence and the bioaccessibility results, this study indicates a tolerable exposure to these mycotoxins representing a low risk for Portuguese children. The present work reinforces the importance of a holistic approach for risk assessment which gathers data from occurrence, exposure and bioaccessibility.