Search Results (26)

This study evaluated the effects of adding the autochthonous cultures Limosilactobacillus mucosae CNPC007 (LM) and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum CNPC003 (LP), originally isolated from goat milk and goat cheese, respectively, on microbiological safety, microbiota composition (analyzed through 16S rRNA gene metataxonomic sequencing), and biogenic amine (BA) production in artisanal goat (coalho) cheese made from raw or pasteurized milk during 60 days of ripening at 10 °C. Six types of cheese were produced, varying in milk treatment (raw or pasteurized) and the presence or absence of LP or LM cultures. Adding either LP or LM significantly modulated the microbiota, favoring Streptococcus dominance and reducing overall bacterial diversity compared to non-inoculated cheeses. Raw milk cheeses with added autochthonous cultures exhibited a microbial profile like pasteurized cheeses, suggesting a homogenizing effect on the microbiome. Both cultures effectively reduced microbial load in raw milk cheeses after 20 days, reaching levels comparable to pasteurized cheeses by the end of ripening. Although BA concentrations increased over time, all samples remained within safe limits. Cheeses with LP addition exhibited lower BA levels, suggesting a modulating effect on their biosynthesis. Histamine concentrations were higher in raw milk cheeses with added cultures but remained well below hazardous levels. These findings suggest that incorporating either LP or LM strains is a promising strategy for enhancing the microbial safety and standardization of artisanal goat cheese while preserving its traditional characteristics. Full article

Textile dyes often prove resistant to conventional wastewater treatment processes because of their complex molecular structures. Advanced oxidation methods, such as the Fenton reaction, have thus been recognized as a promising approach for environmental remediation by decomposing these pollutants. This work aimed to study the efficacy of modified zeolites as catalysts in the Fenton reaction for dye degradation, with a particular emphasis on techniques for modifying zeolites and incorporating iron. The zeolite ZSM-5 was selected as the parent structure and underwent desilication and acid treatment procedures. Iron was introduced into the zeolite structure via two distinct methods: ion exchange and mechanochemistry. The modified zeolites with incorporated iron were evaluated in terms of their crystallinity, textural properties, and iron content before being used to degrade methylene blue solutions through the Fenton reaction. The reaction was monitored using UV-Vis spectroscopy, while the experimental outcomes were analyzed using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The research findings indicate that different treatment methods led to varying impacts on the zeolite properties, which in turn influenced the kinetic results. Moreover, it was observed that an enhancement in the degradation process can be achieved through the harmonious balance between a high iron content, increased mesoporosity (to facilitate diffusion), and adequate crystallinity (essential for maintaining structural integrity). Full article

Background/Objectives: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of vision impairment in preterm infants, with its pathogenesis linked to oxygen exposure. Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, commonly performed in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), reduce fetal hemoglobin (HbF) fraction, altering oxygen dynamics and potentially contributing to ROP. We aimed to investigate the relationship between RBC transfusions, HbF percentage, and ROP, evaluating HbF as a potential predictive biomarker. Methods: A multicenter, prospective study was conducted across eight Portuguese NICUs, involving infants born at <32 weeks gestational age (GA) or <1500 g. ROP staging followed the International Classification of ROP (ICROP2). Clinical data were collected during hospitalization, and HbF fractions were measured from blood samples in the first four weeks of life using standardized methods. Infants were stratified by ROP presence and treatment requirement. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 28.0, with p < 0.05. Results: Eighty-two infants (mean GA: 28.1 ± 2.1 weeks, birth weight: 1055.8 ± 258.3 g) were included. Among them, 29 (35.4%) presented ROP and 4 (4.9%) required treatment. Infants with ROP had more RBC transfusions and lower HbF percentages than those without ROP (p < 0.05). Lower HbF was associated with more RBC transfusions (p < 0.001). Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed a higher ROP risk in infants with reduced HbF (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Low HbF percentage in the first four weeks of life may increase ROP risk in preterm infants. HbF could serve as a biomarker for ROP prediction. Interventions preserving HbF may reduce ROP risk. Further studies are needed to validate HbF as a biomarker and refine prevention strategies. Full article

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led the medical and scientific community to explore the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of coronaviruses. In felines, a widespread coronavirus known as feline coronavirus (FCoV) can lead to feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a highly fatal disease characterised by severe systemic inflammation. Diagnosing FCoV remains challenging due to the limited accuracy of the available methods. The present study introduces the FIP Effusion Index, a novel diagnostic method that combines the albumin-to-globulin (ALB/GLOB) ratio with the delta total nucleated cell (∆TNC) count obtained via flow cytometry using the Sysmex XN-1000V^® analyser in effusions. Samples from cats (n = 50) with suspected FIP were analysed for ∆TNC, with findings showing that a ∆TNC ≥ 2.1 is highly indicative of FIP and a ∆TNC ≥ 4.9 can be considered diagnostic. The FIP Effusion Index enhanced diagnostic precision in our group of samples, achieving 96.3% sensitivity and 95.7% specificity for values ≥ 5.06, and reaching perfect specificity (100%) with 96.3% sensitivity for values ≥ 7.54. This combined approach surpasses the accuracy of individual parameters, establishing the FIP Effusion Index as a superior diagnostic tool for FIP, with potential applications in both veterinary and human medicine for related coronavirus diseases. Full article

Background: Gene therapy can be viewed as a promising/valuable therapeutic approach directed to cancer treatment, including glioblastoma. Concretely, the combination of gene therapy with chemotherapy could increase its therapeutic index due to a synergistic effect. In this context, bovine serum albumin (BSA)-coated temozolomide (TMZ)-peptide (WRAP5)/p53 gene-based plasmid DNA complexes were developed to promote payload co-delivery. Methods: Design of experiments (DoE) was employed to unravel the BSA-coated TMZ-WRAP5/p53 nanocomplexes with the highest potential by considering the nitrogen to phosphate groups ratio (N/P), and the BSA concentration as inputs and the size, polydispersity index, surface charge and p53-based plasmid complexation capacity (CC) as DoE outputs. Results: The obtained quadratic models were statistically significant (p-value < 0.05) with an adequate coefficient of determination, and the correspondent optimal points were successfully validated. The optimal complex formulation had N/P of 1.03, a BSA concentration of 0.08%, a size of approximately 182 nm, a zeta potential of +9.8 mV, and a pDNA CC of 96.5%. The optimal nanocomplexes are approximately spherical. A cytotoxicity assay showed that these BSA-coated TMZ-WRAP5/p53 complexes did not elicit toxicity in normal brain cells, and a hemolysis study demonstrated the hemocompatibility of the complexes. The complexes were stable in cell culture medium and fetal bovine serum and assured pDNA protection and release. Moreover, the optimal BSA-coated complexes were able of gene transcription and promoted a significant inhibition of glioblastoma cell viability. Conclusions: The reported findings instigate the development of future research to evaluate their potential utility to TMZ/p53 co-delivery. The DoE tool proved to be a powerful approach to explore and tailor the composition of BSA-coated TMZ-WRAP5/p53 complexes, which are expected to contribute to the progress toward a more efficient therapy against cancer and, more specifically, against glioblastoma. Full article

Diffusional limitations associated with zeolite microporous systems can be overcome by developing hierarchical zeolites, i.e., materials with a micro- and mesoporous framework. In this work, Y and ZSM-5 zeolites were modified using a surfactant-mediated hydrothermal alkaline method, with NaOH and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). For Y zeolite, after a mild acidic pretreatment, the effect of the NaOH+CTAB treatment time was investigated. For ZSM-5 zeolite, different concentrations of the base and acid solutions were tested in the two-step pretreatment preceding the hydrothermal treatment. The properties of the materials were studied with different physical–chemical techniques. Hierarchical Y zeolites were characterized by 3.3–5 nm pores formed during the alkaline treatment through the structure reconstruction around the surfactant aggregates. The effectiveness of the NaOH+CTAB treatment was highly dependent on the duration. For intermediate treatment times (6–12 h), both smaller and larger mesopores were also obtained. Hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites showed a disordered mesoporosity, mainly resulting from the pretreatment rather than from the subsequent hydrothermal treatment. High mesoporosity was obtained when the concentration of the pretreating base solution was sufficiently high and that of the acid one was not excessive. Hierarchical materials can be obtained for both zeolite structures, but the pretreatment and treatment conditions must be tailored to the starting zeolite and the desired type of mesoporosity. Full article

Background: The study evaluated the effects of resistance exercise training and açaí supplementation on cardiac parameters in hypertensive animals. Methods: For this study, rats from the Wistar and SHR lines (spontaneously hypertensive rats) were used. The animals were divided into 5 groups: Wistar Control (C); Control Hypertensive (H); Trained Hypertensive (HT); Hypertensive and Supplemented with Açaí (HA); and Hypertensive Trained and Supplemented with Açaí (HAT). Resistance exercise training was carried out through climbing. The supplemented groups received 3 g of açaí/kg of body mass. The animals’ systolic blood pressure (SBP), body mass, and physical test were measured at the beginning and end of the intervention. At the end, an echocardiographic analysis was performed. Histological analysis and oxidative stress of the LV were performed. Results: It was found that hypertensive animals showed an increase in SBP, and the treatments reduced this parameter. The trained groups achieved higher values of maximum carrying load. Hypertension increased the dimension of the left ventricular free wall in diastole and reduced ejection and shortening fractions. The trained groups showed improvement in ejection and shortening fractions. The H group increased the proportion of extracellular matrix and reduced the proportion of cells, with the HAT group attenuating this change. Cell diameter was greater in group H, and all treatments reduced this parameter. Hypertension increased the concentration of malondialdehyde and decreased catalase activity in LV. The treatments managed to mitigate this damage. Conclusions: It is concluded that the treatments managed to generate positive cardiovascular adaptations, and their combination enhanced these effects. Full article

The implementation of the Variable Energy (VE) feature in the previously fixed-energy IBA Cyclone^® Kiube cyclotron is presented as an upgrade enabling the production of novel radioisotopes with improved radionuclidic purity and production yields. The possibility of easily decreasing the energy of the extracted proton beam, from 18 down to 13 MeV, allows us to avoid the use of degraders and/or thick target windows, thus preventing related beam current limitations. The immediate application of the Variable Energy feature is proven by presenting the improved results obtained for the production of ⁶⁸Ga from the irradiation of liquid targets simultaneously in terms of radionuclidic purity and activity produced. Full article

Glioblastoma multiform (GBM) is considered the deadliest brain cancer. Conventional therapies are followed by poor patient survival outcomes, so novel and more efficacious therapeutic strategies are imperative to tackle this scourge. Gene therapy has emerged as an exciting and innovative tool in cancer therapy. Its combination with chemotherapy has significantly improved therapeutic outcomes. In line with this, our team has developed temozolomide–transferrin (Tf) peptide (WRAP5)/p53 gene nanometric complexes that were revealed to be biocompatible with non-cancerous cells and in a zebrafish model and were able to efficiently target and internalize into SNB19 and U373 glioma cell lines. The transfection of these cells, mediated by the formulated peptide-drug/gene complexes, resulted in p53 expression. The combined action of the anticancer drug with p53 supplementation in cancer cells enhances cytotoxicity, which was correlated to apoptosis activation through quantification of caspase-3 activity. In addition, increased caspase-9 levels revealed that the intrinsic or mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis was implicated. This assumption was further evidenced by the presence, in glioma cells, of Bax protein overexpression—a core regulator of this apoptotic pathway. Our findings demonstrated the great potential of peptide TMZ/p53 co-delivery complexes for cellular transfection, p53 expression, and apoptosis induction, holding promising therapeutic value toward glioblastoma. Full article

In recent years, polymeric materials have been gaining prominence in studies of controlled release systems to obtain improvements in drug administration. These systems present several advantages compared with conventional release systems, such as constant maintenance in the blood concentration of a given drug, greater bioavailability, reduction of adverse effects, and fewer dosages required, thus providing a higher patient compliance to treatment. Given the above, the present work aimed to synthesize polymeric matrices derived from polyethylene glycol (PEG) capable of promoting the controlled release of the drug ketoconazole in order to minimize its adverse effects. PEG 4000 is a widely used polymer due to its excellent properties such as hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and non-toxic effects. In this work, PEG 4000 and derivatives were incorporated with ketoconazole. The morphology of polymeric films was observed by AFM and showed changes on the film organization after drug incorporation. In SEM, it was possible to notice spheres that formed in some incorporated polymers. The zeta potential of PEG 4000 and its derivatives was determined and suggested that the microparticle surfaces showed a low electrostatic charge. Regarding the controlled release, all the incorporated polymers obtained a controlled release profile at pH 7.3. The release kinetics of ketoconazole in the samples of PEG 4000 and its derivatives followed first order for PEG 4000 HYDR INCORP and Higuchi for the other samples. Cytotoxicity was determined and PEG 4000 and its derivatives were not cytotoxic. Full article

Arboviruses have been reported over the years as constant threats to blood transfusion recipients, given the high occurrence of asymptomatic cases and the fact that the presence of viremia precedes the onset of symptoms, making it possible that infected blood from donors act as a source of dissemination. This work aims to identify the prevalence of dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection in blood donors during epidemic and non-epidemic periods; classify the donor as symptomatic or asymptomatic; and verify the need to include DENV, CHIKV and ZIKV in the nucleic acid test (NAT) platform in northern Brazil. We investigated 36,133 thousand donations in two years of collection in Northern Brazil. One donor was positive for DENV and one for CHIKV (0.002% prevalence). As the prevalence for arboviruses was low in this study, it would not justify the individual screening of samples from donors in a blood bank. Thus, DENV- and CHIKV-positive samples were simulated in different amounts of sample pools, and both were safely detected by molecular biology even in a pool of 14 samples, which would meet the need to include these three viruses in the routine of blood centers in endemic countries such as Brazil. Full article

Despite the great progress over the past few decades in both the diagnosis and treatment of a great variety of human cancers, glioblastoma remains the most lethal brain tumor. In recent years, cancer gene therapy focused on non-viral vectors which emerged as a promising approach to glioblastoma treatment. Transferrin (Tf) easily penetrates brain cells of the blood–brain barrier, and its receptor is highly expressed in this barrier and glioblastoma cells. Therefore, the development of delivery systems containing Tf appears as a reliable strategy to improve their brain cells targeting ability and cellular uptake. In this work, a cell-penetrating peptide (WRAP5), bearing a Tf-targeting sequence, has been exploited to condense tumor suppressor p53-encoding plasmid DNA (pDNA) for the development of nanocomplexes. To increase the functionality of developed nanocomplexes, the drug Temozolomide (TMZ) was also incorporated into the formulations. The physicochemical properties of peptide/pDNA complexes were revealed to be dependent on the nitrogen to phosphate groups ratio and can be optimized to promote efficient cellular internalization. A confocal microscopy study showed the capacity of developed complexes for efficient glioblastoma cell transfection and consequent pDNA delivery into the nucleus, where efficient gene expression took place, followed by p53 protein production. Of promise, these peptide/pDNA complexes induced a significant decrease in the viability of glioblastoma cells. The set of data reported significantly support further in vitro research to evaluate the therapeutic potential of developed complexes against glioblastoma. Full article

Whey beverages that were enriched with fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and xylooligosaccharides (XOS) were used for carrying Foeniculum vulgare extract that was obtained by the supercritical CO₂ extraction technique to produce novel functional products. Fennel-based whey beverages were subjected to thermosonication processing (100, 200, and 300 W at 60 °C for 15 min) to verify the performance of the dairy colloidal system for protecting the bioactive fennel compounds. The impacts of thermosonication processing on the quality attributes of the functional whey beverages were examined according to their droplet size distribution, microstructure, kinetic stability, color parameters, browning index, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant capacity by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2-Azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulphonic acid) assays. The enrichment of the whey beverages with FOS and XOS did not affect their kinetic stability. However, the addition of prebiotic dietary fibers contributed to reducing the mean droplet size due to the formation of whey protein–FOS/XOS conjugates. The thermosonication treatments did not promote color changes that were discernible to the human eye. On the other hand, the thermosonication processing reduced the kinetic stability of the beverages. Overall, the colloidal dairy systems preserved the antioxidant capacity of the fennel seed extract, regardless of thermosonication treatment intensity. The whey beverages enriched with FOS and XOS proved to be effective carrying matrices for protecting the lipophilic bioactive fennel compounds. Full article

This study aimed to valorize pomegranate by-products (peel and carpelar membranes—PPCM) through their high biological potential for phenolic compounds recovery. The influence of lower temperatures (40 and 60 °C) and pressures (20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 bar) than those generally used in pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) was evaluated through global extraction yield (X₀), and qualitative and quantitative composition of the phenolic compounds. Chromatographic techniques were used to analyze the two treatments with the highest X₀. Temperature, pressure, and their interaction had a significant influence on X₀. The best phenolic compounds extraction conditions were using pressurized ethanol at 60 °C and 40 bar (extract 1—E1, 37% on d.b.) and 60 °C and 80 bar (extract 2—E2, 45% on d.b.). Nevertheless, E1 presented a significantly higher content of α, β punicalagin, and ellagic acid (48 ± 2, 146 ± 11, and 25.6 ± 0.3 mg/100 g, respectively) than E2 (40 ± 2, 126 ± 4, and 22.7 ± 0.3 mg/100 g). Therefore, this study could validate the use of low pressures and temperatures in PLE to recover phenolic compounds from pomegranate residues, making this process more competitive and sustainable for the pomegranate industry. Full article

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of semi-defatted unripe genipap (SDG) using supercritical CO₂ was performed to enhance the recovery of natural colorant iridoids genipin and geniposide. There are currently few natural sources of iridoids, and their application as colorants is scarce. The UAE resulted in extracts with blue and green colors using water and ethanol, respectively. The highest global yield and genipin content was recovered with water, and the geniposide was significantly recovered with ethanol. With water at 450 W, the UAE raised the maximum global yield (25.50 g/100 g raw material). At 150 W and 7 min, the maximum content of genipin (121.7 mg/g extract) and geniposide (312 mg/g extract) was recovered. The total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity with the oxygen reactive antioxidant capacity (ORAC) assay were also high in aqueous extracts. Ethanolic extracts showed high ferric-reducing ability antioxidant potential (FRAP) values. UAE showed an efficient and fast method to obtain different extracts’ fractions from SDG, which have a wide spectrum of applications, especially as natural food colorants. Full article