Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-05-29"
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- Hazard characterisation of the mycotoxins enniatins and Alternaria toxins to close data gaps and improve risk assessment for human healthPublication . Dietrich, Jessica; Marko, Doris; Behr, Anne-Cathrin; Driven, Hubert; Silva, Maria João; Louro, Henriqueta; PARC 5.1.1.a Project TeamMycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi that may contaminate food and feed, e.g., cereals, (dried) fruits and spices. As they are natural substances, there are no manufacturers or suppliers responsible for providing hazard data, in contrast to e.g. industrial chemicals or pesticides. Humans are widely exposed to mycotoxins mainly through diet and, due to climate changes, the human exposure to these toxins will likely increase. Accordingly, regulatory agencies need more hazard data, particularly regarding emerging (non-regulated) toxins to improve risk assessment and consumer protection. Thus, this project was designed in order to fill data gaps with regulatory relevance regarding the main representatives of two groups of emerging mycotoxins - enniatins and Alternaria toxins. Within the project, in vitro assays on genotoxic, carcinogenic, immunotoxic and endocrine effects of enniatins and Alternaria toxins as well as in silico analyses and further studies on adverse outcome pathway will be performed by a total of 16 partners from the European Union and Norway. Standardized OECD test guidelines as well as so-called New Approach Methodologies will be used to generate in vitro data. The results of the study are expected to identify critical toxicological effects of the toxins for subsequent in vivo studies required to establish health based guidance values and thus to perform an appropriate risk assessment in order to provide an efficient health consumer protection.
- Epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease in Portugal from 2012 to 2022Publication . Bettencourt, Célia; Nunes, Alexandra; VigLab-DM – Network for the Laboratory Surveillance of Meningococcal Disease; Simões, Maria JoãoBackroud and aim: Surveillance of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is essential to monitor changes in the epidemiology of the disease and for more effective infection control. In Portugal, a surveillance system based on mandatory clinical and laboratory notifications was implemented in late 2002, with the laboratory component under the responsibility of the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for Neisseria meningitidis. In addition, since 2017, whole genome sequencing (WGS) has been routinely implemented at the NRL as a reference typing method for IMD surveillance. This work aims to analyze both the epidemiology of IMD and the genetic diversity of Neisseria meningitidis strains during the last 11 years (2012-2022) in Portugal. Conclusion: Although the incidence of meningococcal disease has decreased over the past 11 years in Portugal, MenB meningococci are still an important cause of meningitis and septicaemia. While serogroup C IMD was rare and restricted to adults, serogroup Y IMD affected all age groups. On the other hand, serogroup W IMD has been increasing since 2017, initially in adults and later (2019) in children under 4 years of age. WGS analysis revealed a high genetic diversity among N. meningitidis isolates, especially in the population of MenB isolates. The increased circulation of MenB cc213 strains observed over these nine years is particularly important and deserves close monitoring, given the predicted low coverage of this strain by the 4CMenB vaccine [6]. In addition, the slight increase in IMD cases due to the MenW cc11 strains, previously identified as clustered into two sublineages the “Original UK” and “UK 2013” strains [7], should also be monitored, as these strains are associated with an unusual clinical presentation and a higher lethality rate compared to other IMD serogroups [8, 9]. Our results underline the need for continuous surveillance of N. meningitidis infections susceptible to changes in their pattern, in order to promptly adapt IMD control strategies in Portugal.
- Hazard assessment of bisphenol A alternatives to close data gaps of concern for human health and improve their risk assessmentPublication . Aiello Holden, Kiara; Tait, Sabrina; Viguié, Catherine; Mhaouty-Kodja, Sakina; Corsini, Emanuela; Silva, Maria João; Zalko, Daniel; Testai, Emanuela; Louro, Henriqueta; Dirven, HubertWHY? With the upcoming restrictions on BPA, BPA alternatives’ tonnages and frequencies of use are expected to severely increase in the coming years. Therefore, this project aims to fill the identified data gaps, providing a complete data set for at least four relevant BPA alternatives identified in an ad hoc Workshop together with ECHA and EFSA. We will fill the knowledge gaps on human health on five toxicological endpoints and by the identification of molecular biomarkers we will contribute to develop methods to rapidly predict the possible effects of BPA alternatives.