Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2022-11-24"
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- Anti-Aspergillus fumigatus IgG in patients with bronchiectasis and its relationship with clinical outcomePublication . Rodrigues Trápaga, Mariana; Rodrigues Poester, Vanice; Sanchotene, Karine Ortiz; Martins Melo, Aryse; Benelli, Jéssica Louise; Basso, Rossana Patricia; Klafke, Gabriel Baracy; Fernandes Ramos, Daniela; Veríssimo, Cristina; Sabino, Raquel; Stevens, David A.; Xavier, Melissa OrzechowskiAspergillosis is a mycosis, most commonly afecting the airways. This mycosis can worsen the clinical condition of patients with concurrent lung diseases. We assayed for the presence of serum anti-A. fumigatus IgG in bronchiectasis patients from a tertiary hospital in south Brazil and evaluated the relationship with clinical outcome. Thirty-one patients with bronchiec tasis, without cystic fbrosis, were included. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected from all participants. Positive serological tests were detected in 13% (4/31) of the patients. The mortality rate for the year following the assay was, in the seropositive group, 75% (3/4), whereas in the seronegative group, 15% (4/27). An illustrative case is also shown and discussed. Our study highlights the diagnostic challenge and the possible impact of Aspergillus infection on these patients, indicating the necessity of more and larger investigations in the feld
- Studying iodine intake of Portuguese children school mealsPublication . Delgado, Inês; Ventura, Marta; Gueifão, Sandra; Assunção, Ricardo; Coelho, Inês; Bento, Alexandra; Silva, José Armando L.; Castanheira, IsabelIodine is an essential trace element, and its nutritional importance is well established. The iodine content of school meals of Portuguese children aged between 6 and 10 years (collected in the metropolitan area of Lisbon) was analyzed by ICP-MS. The samples were cooked with and without iodized salt and additionally some complementary foods were purchased as supplements to the main meals or to the other meal along the day. The results report six meals per day and they suggest that at least one main meals (lunch or dinner) prepared with iodized salt is enough to reach the recommended daily iodine intake (AI), 90 μg/day, not exceeding the tolerable upper intake (UL) level of 300 μg/day. When both main meals are cooked without iodized salt, 11 % of the hypotheses present an iodine content less than 90 μg/day. However, when lunch and dinner are prepared with iodized salt, 1 % exceeds the value of the UL. The food groups with the highest levels of iodine are daily products and fish. These results presuppose a balanced diet without any dietary restrictions. So, for ideological or medical reasons, special attention must be paid to diets with some limitations, such as vegetarian, lactose or high content of proteins free diets.
- Current Advances, Research Needs and Gaps in Mycotoxins Biomonitoring under the HBM4EU-Lessons Learned and Future TrendsPublication . Alvito, Paula; Assunção, Ricardo Manuel; Bajard, Lola; Martins, Carla; Mengelers, Marcel J.B.; Mol, Hans; Namorado, Sónia; van den Brand, Annick D.; Vasco, Elsa; Viegas, Susana; Silva, Maria JoãoMycotoxins are natural metabolites produced by fungi that contaminate food and feed worldwide. They can pose a threat to human and animal health, mainly causing chronic effects, e.g., immunotoxic and carcinogenic. Due to climate change, an increase in European population exposure to mycotoxins is expected to occur, raising public health concerns. This urges us to assess the current human exposure to mycotoxins in Europe to allow monitoring exposure and prevent future health impacts. The mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) were considered as priority substances to be studied within the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) to generate knowledge on internal exposure and their potential health impacts. Several policy questions were addressed concerning hazard characterization, exposure and risk assessment. The present article presents the current advances attained under the HBM4EU, research needs and gaps. Overall, the knowledge on the European population risk from exposure to DON was improved by using new harmonised data and a newly derived reference value. In addition, mechanistic information on FB1 was, for the first time, organized into an adverse outcome pathway for a congenital anomaly. It is expected that this knowledge will support policy making and contribute to driving new Human Biomonitoring (HBM) studies on mycotoxin exposure in Europe.