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- Reply to Wilson: The 4-Month Isoniazid, Rifapentine, Moxifloxacin, and Pyrazinamide Treatment Regimen for Drug-Susceptible Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Word of CautionPublication . Saukkonen, Jussi; Munsiff, Sonal; Winston, Carla; Duarte, Raquel; Mammen, ManojNo abstract available
- Emerging Trends in Active Packaging for Food: A Six-Year ReviewPublication . Andrade, Mariana A.; Barbosa, Cássia H.; Ribeiro-Santos, Regiane; Tomé, Sidney; Fernando, Ana Luísa; Silva, Ana Sanches; Vilarinho, Fernanda; "The development of active food packaging has evolved rapidly in recent years, offering innovative solutions to enhance food preservation and safety while addressing sustainability challenges. This review compiles and analyzes recent advancements (2019–2024) in release-type active packaging, focusing on essential oils, natural extracts, and phenolic compounds as active agents. Primarily plant-derived, these compounds exhibit significant antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, extending shelf life and enhancing food quality. Technological strategies such as encapsulation and polymer blending have been increasingly adopted to overcome challenges related to volatility, solubility, and sensory impact. Integrating bio-based polymers, including chitosan, starch, and polylactic acid, further supports the development of environmentally friendly packaging systems. This review also highlights trends in compound-specific research, release mechanisms, and commercial applications, including a detailed analysis of patents and case studies across various food matrices. These developments have already been translated into practical applications, such as antimicrobial sachets for meat and essential oil-based pads for fresh produce. Moreover, by promoting the valorization of agro-industrial by-products and the use of biodegradable materials, emission-type active packaging contributes to the principles of the circular economy. This comprehensive overview underscores the potential of natural bioactive compounds in advancing sustainable and functional food packaging technologies.
- BlaGES-6 producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa ST235 is involved in resistance to different β-lactamsPublication . de Sousa, Telma; Machado, Sandro; Carvalho, Márcia; Caniça, Manuela; Ramos, Miguel J.N.; Santos, Daniela; Beyrouthy, Racha; Bonnet, Richard; Hébraud, Michel; Gomes, João Paulo; Igrejas, Gilberto; Poeta, PatríciaMultidrug resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, particularly resistance to carbapenem, represents a major challenge for public health. This study investigated resistance mechanisms in three P. aeruginosa isolates: HU63 (blaGES-6 carbapenemase-positive), HU141 (carbapenem-resistant without carbapenemase), and PAO1 (control). Genomic analysis revealed distinct sequence types (ST235 for HU63, ST253 for HU141) and chromosomal integration of resistance genes. HU63 harbored diverse resistance mechanisms, including β-lactamases (bla, bla, bla) and efflux pumps. Minimum inhibitory concentration assays demonstrated HU63's resistance to all β-lactams tested (meropenem, imipenem-cilastatin, ceftazidime, piperacillin-tazobactam), while HU141 remained susceptible except to cefoxitin and cloxacillin. Time-kill assays revealed tolerance phenotypes, with HU63 showing regrowth after 8-24 h despite initial reductions in bacterial density. Gene expression varied significantlydepending on the antibiotic and the isolate. The HU63 isolate (GES-6 positive) stands out for its marked induction of bla in all the antibiotics tested, contributing to its resistance to carbapenems and broad-spectrum cephalosporins. These expression profiles corroborate the classic molecular mechanisms of resistance: regulation of entry pores (oprD), activation of efflux pumps (mexA) and production of β-lactamases (bla, ampC) adapted to each situation. These findings underscore the multifactorial nature of resistance in Carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), combining enzymatic inactivation, efflux, and genetic adaptability. The study emphasizes the urgent need for genomic surveillance to track high-risk clones and develop therapies targeting tolerance mechanisms alongside traditional resistance.
- Diagnostic accuracy and predictive value of the QuantiFERON-TB gold plus assay for tuberculosis in immunocompromised individuals: a prospective TBnet studyPublication . Sester, Martina; Altet-Gomez, Neus; Andersen, Åse Bengaard; Arias-Guillén, Miguel; Avsar, Korkut; Bakken Kran, Anne-Marte; Bothamley, Graham; Nordholm Breschel, Anne Christine; Brown, James; Chesov, Dumitru; Ciobanu, Nelly; Cirillo, Daniela Maria; Crudu, Valeriu; de Souza Galvao, Malu; Dilektasli, Asli Görek; Dominguez, José; Duarte, Raquel; Dyrhol-Riise, Anne Ma; Goletti, Delia; Hoffmann, Harald; Ibraim, Elmira; Kalsdorf, Barbara; Krawczyk, Marcin; Kunst, Heinke; Lange, Berit; Lipman, Marc; Matteelli, Alberto; Milkiewicz, Piotr; Neyer, David; Nitschke, Martin; Oral, Haluk Barbaros; Palacios-Gutiérrez, Juan José; Petruccioli, Elisa; Raszeja-Wyszomirska, Joanna; Ravn, Pernille; Rupp, Jan; Spohn, Hanna-Elisa; Toader, Corina; Villar-Hernandez, Raquel; Wagner, Dirk; van Leth, Frank; Martinez, Leonardo; Pedersen, Ole Skouvig; Lange, ChristophBackground: In low tuberculosis (TB)-endemic countries, tuberculosis preventive therapy (TPT) is recommended for immunocompromised individuals with a positive immunodiagnostic test. This study aimed to assess the performance of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT+) assay and predictive power for future tuberculosis in immunocompromised individuals. Methods: In this prospective observational study, immunocompromised adults ≥18 years of age including people living with HIV (PLHIV), chronic renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, solid-organ transplantation or stem-cell transplantation, and immunocompetent adults with and without TB-disease were recruited at 21 sites in 11 European countries and tested with the QFT+ assay. Individuals without TB-disease were followed up for the development of tuberculosis. TB incidence rates (IR) were calculated, stratified by QFT+ results and acceptance of TPT. This study is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02639936. Findings: A total of 2663 individuals (1115 female, 1548 male) were enrolled from 03/11/2015 to 29/03/2019. Persons without tuberculosis were followed up for at least two years. Among 1758 immunocompromised individuals without active tuberculosis, 13.6% had positive QFT+ results. Sensitivity and specificity for TB-disease were 70.0% (52.1-83.3%) and 91.4% (89.6-92.9%), respectively, in immunocompromised, and 81.4% (76.6-85.3%) and 96.0% (92.5-97.9%), respectively, in immunocompetent individuals. During 2457 cumulative years of follow-up among 932 individuals with chronic renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, solid-organ transplantation or stem-cell transplantation, including 83 persons with a positive QFT+ test without TPT, no-one developed active tuberculosis. In contrast, among 642 PLHIV without TPT, one with an indeterminate QFT+ and 3/30 individuals with a positive QFT+ developed active tuberculosis; all had detectable HIV-replication and low CD4 T-cell counts (incidence 4.1 (95% CI (1.3-12.4) per 100 person-years). No individuals receiving TPT developed active tuberculosis during 269 years of follow-up. Interpretation: In immunocompromised individuals in low TB-endemic countries, the 2-year-risk for active tuberculosis was highest among PLHIV with detectable HIV-replication and low CD4-counts. In this study, the QFT+ assay did not strongly predict progression to active tuberculosis, which emphasises the need to incorporate additional risk factors.
- Re‐evaluation of oxygen (E 948) and hydrogen (E 949) as food additivesPublication . EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF); Castle, Laurence; Andreassen, Monica; Aquilina, Gabriele; Bastos, Maria Lourdes; Boon, Polly; Fallico, Biagio; FitzGerald, Reginald; Frutos Fernandez, Maria Jose; Grasl‐Kraupp, Bettina; Gundert‐Remy, Ursula; Gürtler, Rainer; Houdeau, Eric; Kurek, Marcin; Louro, Henriqueta; Morales, Patricia; Passamonti, Sabina; Rasinger, Josef Daniel; Smeraldi, Camilla; Di Ciano, Samuele; Dino, Borana; Mazzoli, Elena; Rincon, Ana MariaThe Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF) provides a scientific opinion re‐evaluating the safety of oxygen (E 948) and hydrogen (E 949) as food additives. Their currently permitted use in food in the European Union (EU) is in all food categories, including in foods for infants and young children at quantum satis (QS). They can also be used in food additive preparations, food enzymes and nutrients also at QS. No interested business operators (IBOs) provided information in response to the call for data published by EFSA to support their re‐evaluation. The original evaluation by the EU in 1990 indicated their use as packaging gases, and in the case of oxygen (E 948), also as propellant. The Panel considered the two gases to be of low toxicological concern when used as food additives and their dietary exposure very low. The Panel concluded that the use of oxygen (E 948) and hydrogen (E 949) as food additives does not raise a safety concern. The Panel made some recommendations for amending existing EU specifications for both oxygen (E 948) and hydrogen (E 949).
- Epidemiology of board-related incidents in the Portuguese National Maritime Authority’s Jurisdiction (2020-2023): a cross-sectional studyPublication . Ourique, Matilde; Alves, Tatiana; Aniceto, Carlos; Dias, Carlos Matias; Mendes, Pedro Marques; Fernandes, João Ferraz; Correia, Diana Martins; Gaio, VâniaBackground: Portugal’s favourable conditions for water-based recreational activities (WRA) often lead to incidents requiring intervention by the National Maritime Authority (AMN). Despite being documented in the SEGMAR database, participant profiles and severity factors, particularly for water-board-related incidents (BRIs), remain underexplored. This study aims to profile individuals involved in BRIs, identify determinants of severe incidents, and examine key clusters within the AMN’s jurisdiction from 2020 to 2023. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study analysed 14,456 WRA incidents from the SEGMAR database. BRIs included activities involving water-boards (e.g., surfing, bodyboarding, kitesurfing) and collisions with waterboards. Severe BRIs were defined as incidents causing injuries, fatalities, or disappearances. Sociodemographic, temporal, and spatial factors were analysed using descriptive analysis and Quasi-Poisson regression to estimate frequency ratios (FR). Cluster analysis identified at-risk groups, and the severe to non-severe BRIs ratio was mapped by captaincy and municipality. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: BRIs made up 11.9% of all incidents, occurring more often among men, individuals aged 15–55, and foreigners, especially outside the bathing season and in unsupervised areas (p<0.001). Severe BRIs were linked to winter (FR 1.92; 95% CI 1.15–3.19), nighttime (FR 2.0; 95% CI 1.6–2.6), dawn (FR 1.6; 95% CI 1.3–2.0), and the bathing season (FR 1.9; 95% CI 1.3–2.7). Clusters revealed at-risk groups: children under 14 at patrolled beaches in summer evenings, men over 55 at unpatrolled areas in autumn, and young females at unpatrolled beaches in winter. Seven captaincies and 20 municipalities had a severe to non-severe BRIs ratio above 1. Conclusion: BRIs predominantly affect men, young adults, and foreigners. Key risk factors include extreme ages, non-summer seasons, unsupervised areas, and low-light conditions. Targeted interventions, such as adjusting lifeguard schedules to cover high-risk times, promoting safety campaigns for children and older adults, and reinforcing safety infrastructure at unpatrolled beaches, might be important to mitigate risks and reduce incident severity.
- Scientific opinion as regards the specifications of the food additives acetic, lactic, tartaric, mono- and diacetyltartaric, mixed acetic and tartaric acids esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E 472a,b,d,e,f)Publication . EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF); Castle, Laurence; Andreassen, Monica; Aquilina, Gabriele; Bastos, Maria Lourdes; Boon, Polly; Fallico, Biagio; FitzGerald, Reginald; Frutos Fernandez, Maria Jose; Grasl-Kraupp, Bettina; Gundert-Remy, Ursula; Gürtler, Rainer; Houdeau, Eric; Kurek, Marcin; Louro, Henriqueta; Passamonti, Sabina; Fürst, Peter; Karlien, Cheyns; Mirat, Manuela; Tard, Alexandra; Rincon, Ana MariaAcetic, lactic, tartaric, mono- and diacetyltartaric, mixed acetic and tartaric acids esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E 472a,b,d,e,f) were re-evaluated in 2020 by the Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF) Panel. The Panel issued several recommendations to amend the specifications of these food additives in Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012. The present opinion deals with the assessment of the data provided by interested business operators (IBOs) in support of an amendment of the EU specifications for these food additives. It also includes an assessment of dietary exposure to E 472d, E 472e and E 472f. The Panel concluded that the technical data provided by an IBO support amendments to the specifications for E 472a, E 472b and E 472e in Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012. However, regarding E 472d and E 472f, the Panel was unable to confirm that technical data provided by IBOs adequately support an amendment of the specifications as no supporting technical data were provided for these food additives. Dietary exposure estimates for E 472d, E 472e and E 472f, across all population groups and exposure scenarios, were found to be below the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 480 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day for E 472d and 600 mg/kg bw per day for E 472e and E 472f, based on the food categories included in the assessment.
- Functional characterization of 16 variants found in the LDL receptor genePublication . Konečná, Kateřina; Přerovská, Tereza; Loja, Tomáš; Fajkusová, Lenka; Koutná, Jana; Kramárek, Michal; Alves, Ana Catarina; Bourbon, Mafalda; Freiberger, Tomáš; Tichý, LukášFamilial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a disorder of cholesterol metabolism characterized by elevated LDL-cholesterol levels. The most common cause of FH is pathogenic variants in the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene. To shed light on the functional impact of selected LDLR variants, we functionally characterized 16 LDLR genetic variants alongside 10 control variants. We performed in vitro assays based on transient expression of WT and mutant LDLRs in LDLR-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cells. We used flow cytometry to analyze the relative amount of LDLRs expressed on the cell surface and the relative amount of internalized LDL. In addition, we analyzed the expression and maturation of LDLR protein by Western blotting. Of the 16 studied variants, two variants (p.(Asn272Thr) and p.(Arg574Leu)) did not exhibit a defect in LDLR function, one variant (p.(Ala540Thr)) exhibited a defect in LDL binding and/or internalization despite normal LDLR cell surface expression, and the remaining 13 variants had a detrimental effect on both LDLR cell surface expression and LDL internalization. The information presented in this study contributes to the clinical classification of LDLR variants and a more precise diagnosis of FH patients, highlighting the type of defect each variant produces.
- Addressing Critical Fungal Pathogens Under a One Health Perspective: Key Insights from the Portuguese Association of Medical MycologyPublication . Sabino, Raquel; Antunes, Francisco; Araujo, Ricardo; Bezerra, A. R.; Brandão, João; Carneiro, Carla; Carvalho, Agostinho; Carvalho, D.; Conceição, I.C.; Cota-Medeiros, Fábio; Cruz, C.; Duarte, Elsa Leclerc; Holum, S.; Matos, O.; Maltez, F.; Mendonça, Alexandre; Moura, G.; Pereira, A.; Fortuna R., Celia; Teixeira, Pedro; de Valdoleiros, Sofia R.; Verissímo, Cristina; Viegas, Carla; Portuguese Association of Medical Mycology (ASPOMM); CarneiroFungal infections have emerged as a significant public health concern, especially with the increasing incidence of severe mycoses caused by pathogens such as Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida auris, Candida albicans, and Cryptococcus neoformans. These fungi, listed as critical priorities by the World Health Organization, pose a heightened risk due to rising antifungal resistance and their severe impact on immunocompromised individuals. This article, coordinated by the Portuguese Association of Medical Mycology, highlights the importance of adopting a One Health perspective to address fungal threats comprehensively. Drawing on interdisciplinary collaboration, the association aims to foster greater awareness, improve diagnostic capabilities, and stimulate research and public health policies in Portugal but also at global level. The paper outlines key strategies for surveillance, prevention, and innovation in fungal diagnostics and therapeutics. Moreover, it emphasizes the urgent need for national coordination and international cooperation in managing fungal infections, advocating for integrative approaches that link human, animal, and environmental health. By presenting aconsolidated overview of current challenges and future priorities, this work seeks to enhance preparedness and response mechanisms in the face of escalating fungal threats.
- The Empty Medicine Cabinet: Urgent Action Needed to Resolve TB Drug Shortages in EuropePublication . Goletti, D.; Cirillo, D.M.; Lange, C.; Tiberi, S.; Günther, G.; Petrone, L.; Kuksa, L.; Opota, O.; Akkerman, O.; Podlekareva, D.; Guglielmetti, L.; Duarte, R.No abstract available.