Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-02-24"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Implementation of effect biomarkers in human biomonitoring studies: A systematic approach synergizing toxicological and epidemiological knowledgePublication . Rodríguez-Carrillo, Andrea; Mustieles, Vicente; Salamanca-Fernández, Elena; Olivas-Martínez, Alicia; Suárez, Beatriz; Bajard, Lola; Baken, Kirsten; Blaha, Ludek; Bonefeld-Jørgensen, Eva Cecilie; Couderq, Stephan; D'Cruz, Shereen Cynthia; Fini, Jean-Baptiste; Govarts, Eva; Gundacker, Claudia; Hernández, Antonio F.; Lacasaña, Marina; Laguzzi, Federica; Linderman, Birgitte; Long, Manhai; Louro, Henriqueta; Neophytou, Christiana; Oberemn, Axel; Remy, Sylvie; Rosenmai, Anna Kjerstine; Saber, Anne Thoustrup; Schoeters, Greet; Silva, Maria João; Smagulova, Fatima; Uhl, Maria; Vinggaard, Anne Marie; Vogel, Ulla; Wielsøe, Maria; Olea, Nicolás; Fernández, Mariana F.Human biomonitoring (HBM) studies have highlighted widespread daily exposure to environmental chemicals. Some of these are suspected to contribute to adverse health outcomes such as reproductive, neurological, and metabolic disorders, among other developmental and chronic impairments. One of the objectives of the H2020 European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) was the development of informative effect biomarkers for application in a more systematic and harmonized way in large-scale European HBM studies. The inclusion of effect biomarkers would complement exposure data with mechanistically-based information on early and late adverse effects. For this purpose, a stepwise strategy was developed to identify and implement a panel of validated effect biomarkers in European HBM studies. This work offers an overview of the complete procedure followed, from comprehensive literature search strategies, selection of criteria for effect biomarkers and their classification and prioritization, based on toxicological data and adverse outcomes, to pilot studies for their analytical, physiological, and epidemiological validation. We present the example of one study that demonstrated the mediating role of the effect biomarker status of brain-derived neurotrophic factor BDNF in the longitudinal association between infant bisphenol A (BPA) exposure and behavioral function in adolescence. A panel of effect biomarkers has been implemented in the HBM4EU Aligned Studies as main outcomes, including traditional oxidative stress, reproductive, and thyroid hormone biomarkers. Novel biomarkers of effect, such as DNA methylation status of BDNF and kisspeptin (KISS) genes were also evaluated as molecular markers of neurological and reproductive health, respectively. A panel of effect biomarkers has also been applied in HBM4EU occupational studies, such as micronucleus analysis in lymphocytes and reticulocytes, whole blood comet assay, and malondialdehyde, 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine and untargeted metabolomic profile in urine, to investigate, for example, biological changes in response to hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) exposure. The use of effect biomarkers in HBM4EU has demonstrated their ability to detect early biological effects of chemical exposure and to identify subgroups that are at higher risk. The roadmap developed in HBM4EU confirms the utility of effect biomarkers, and support one of the main objectives of HBM research, which is to link exposure biomarkers to mechanistically validated effect and susceptibility biomarkers in order to better understand the public health implications of human exposure to environmental chemicals.
- Comparison of Multi-locus Genotypes Detected in Aspergillus fumigatus Isolated from COVID Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis (CAPA) and from Other Clinical and Environmental SourcesPublication . Morais, Susana; Toscano, Cristina; Simões, Helena; Carpinteiro, Dina; Viegas, Carla; Veríssimo, Cristina; Sabino, RaquelBackground: Aspergillus fumigatus is a saprophytic fungus, ubiquitous in the environment and responsible for causing infections, some of them severe invasive infections. The high morbidity and mortality, together with the increasing burden of triazole-resistant isolates and the emergence of new risk groups, namely COVID-19 patients, have raised a crescent awareness of the need to better comprehend the dynamics of this fungus. The understanding of the epidemiology of this fungus, especially of CAPA isolates, allows a better understanding of the interactions of the fungus in the environment and the human body. Methods: In the present study, the M3 markers of the STRAf assay were used as a robust typing technique to understand the connection between CAPA isolates and isolates from different sources (environmental and clinical-human and animal). Results: Of 100 viable isolates that were analyzed, 85 genotypes were found, 77 of which were unique. Some isolates from different sources presented the same genotype. Microsatellite genotypes obtained from A. fumigatus isolates from COVID+ patients were all unique, not being found in any other isolates of the present study or even in other isolates deposited in a worldwide database; these same isolates were heterogeneously distributed among the other isolates. Conclusions: Isolates from CAPA patients revealed high heterogeneity of multi-locus genotypes. A genotype more commonly associated with COVID-19 infections does not appear to exist.