Search Results (6)

Food security and food safety are major aspects for human and animal health, yet mycotoxins contaminate 60–80% of food crops before and after harvest, elevating the risk of chronic toxicity and cancer development. This study investigates the potential of ferulic acid (FA) as an antioxidant against mycotoxin-induced oxidative stress in Caco-2 cells exposed to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) for 24 and 48 h. The effects on the degree of lipid peroxidation and non-enzymatic and enzymatic mechanisms against oxidative stress were evaluated. FA appears to mitigate oxidative stress by modulating lipid and protein oxidation, decreasing the level of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE), increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and preserving thiol groups by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, the reduction in polyubiquitinated Nrf2 level, and higher SOD activity, suggest that FA stabilizes Nrf2, delaying its degradation and reinforcing its antioxidant role. These findings indicate that FA partially counteracts mycotoxin-induced oxidative damage, highlighting the need for further investigation into its long-term effects. Full article

There is significant inter-individual variability in the prevalence and severity of cisplatin-induced ototoxicity, which is greatly influenced by genetic and non-genetic factors that predispose the patient to the development of hearing loss. Currently, the focus should be on identifying patients who are more likely to develop ototoxicity based on genetic and non-genetic factors, as therapies to combat ototoxicity are limited or still under study. The severity of hearing loss and the time of its onset may be influenced by certain genetic polymorphisms or the dose administered, age, sex, diet, the administration of other drugs with ototoxic potential, and association with radiotherapy of the head and neck. Knowing the risk factors allows the doctor to manage each case in a personalized manner, preventing hearing damage, especially in the long term. With the help of PubMed and Scopus, we searched for relevant studies documenting the genetic and non-genetic risk in patients treated with cisplatin. This review article is a synthesis of the literature that points out the importance of these factors, encouraging genetic screening and improving quality of life in patients treated with cisplatin. Full article

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a major disruption to the delivery of secondary prevention measures in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). It required a rapid and widespread adoption of new medical services, including the use of telemedicine. This study aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19 on secondary prevention in patients with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the telemedicine application for the implementation of lifestyle change measures, remote monitoring, and treatment regimen adjustment; (2) Methods: This prospective study on 194 CABG patients evaluated three consecutive years between 2019 and 2022 in the pre-pandemic period by face-to-face visits and during the pandemic by teleconsultations or hybrid follow-up. Variables of interest were compared between four periods: pre-pandemic—pre-P (1 March 2019–29 February 2020), lockdown—Lock (1 March–31 August 2020), restrictive-pandemic—Restr-P (1 September 2020–28 February 2021), and relaxed–pandemic—Rel-P (1 March 2021–1 March 2022). (3) Results: The average values of the lipidogram, blood sugar, and uric acid increased during Lock and Restr-P, but, through the use of teleprevention, they returned to the pre-pandemic level or even below this level. The exception was blood sugar, which remained high in Rel-P. The number of newly diagnosed patients with diabetes also increased, with most of them having moderate forms of COVID. During Lock and Res-P, the percentage of obese, smoking, or hypertensive patients increased, but, through the use of teleprevention, we managed to reduce it, although it remained slightly higher than the pre-pandemic level. Physical activity decreased in the first year of the pandemic, but, in Rel-P, CABG patients became more active than before the pandemic (4) Conclusions: The use of telemedicine for cardiovascular secondary prevention allowed us to not only continue seeing CABG patients but, also, to adjust their medication and to expand cardiovascular preventive counseling and testing with favorable results, especially during the second year of the pandemic. Full article

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced by certain strains of fungi that can contaminate raw feed materials. Once ingested, even in small doses, they cause multiple health issues for animals and, downstream, for people consuming meat. It was proposed that inclusion of antioxidant-rich plant-derived feed might diminish the harmful effects of mycotoxins, maintaining the farm animals’ health and meat quality for human consumption. This work investigates the large scale proteomic effects on piglets’ liver of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A mycotoxins and the potential compensatory effects of grapeseed and sea buckthorn meal administration as dietary byproduct antioxidants against mycotoxins’ damage. Forty cross-bred TOPIGS-40 hybrid piglets after weaning were assigned to three (n = 10) experimental groups (A, M, AM) and one control group (C) and fed with experimental diets for 30 days. After 4 weeks, liver samples were collected, and the microsomal fraction was isolated. Unbiased label-free, library-free, data-independent acquisition (DIA) mass spectrometry SWATH methods were able to relatively quantify 1878 proteins from piglets’ liver microsomes, confirming previously reported effects on metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, TCA cycle, glutathione synthesis and use, and oxidative phosphorylation. Pathways enrichment revealed that fatty acid metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, regulation of gene expression by spliceosomes, membrane trafficking, peroxisome, thermogenesis, retinol, pyruvate, and amino acids metabolism pathways are also affected by the mycotoxins. Antioxidants restored expression level of proteins PRDX3, AGL, PYGL, fatty acids biosynthesis, endoplasmic reticulum, peroxisome, amino acid synthesis pathways, and, partially, OXPHOS mitochondrial subunits. However, excess of antioxidants might cause significant changes in CYP2C301, PPP4R4, COL18A1, UBASH3A, and other proteins expression levels. Future analysis of proteomics data corelated to animals growing performance and meat quality studies are necessary. Full article

(1) Background: Severe left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction with a restrictive diastolic pattern (LVDFP) is generally associated with a worse prognosis. Its evolution and reversibility in the short- and medium-term after aortic valve replacement (AVR) has been little-studied. We aimed to evaluate the evolution of LV remodeling and LV systolic and diastolic function after AVR in aortic stenosis (AS) patients compared to aortic regurgitation (AR). Moreover, we tried to identify the main predictive parameters for postoperative evolution (cardiovascular hospitalization or death and quality of life) and the independent predictors for the persistence of restrictive LVDFP after AVR. (2) Methods: A five-year prospective study on 397 patients undergoing AVR for AS (226 pts) or AR (171 pts), evaluated clinically and by echocardiography preoperatively and until 5 years postoperatively. (3) Results: 1. In patients with AS, early post AVR, LV dimensions decreased and diastolic filling and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) improved more rapidly compared to patients with AR. At 1 year postoperatively, persistent restrictive LVDFP was found especially in the AR group compared to the AS group (36.84% vs. 14.16%). 2. Cardiovascular event-free survival at the 5-year follow-up was lower in the AR group (64.91% vs. 87.17% in the AS group). The main independent predictors of short- and medium-term prognosis after AVR were: restrictive LVDFP, severe LV systolic dysfunction, severe pulmonary hypertension (PHT), advanced age, severe AR, and comorbidities. 3. The persistence of restrictive LVDFP after AVR was independently predicted by: preoperative AR, the E/Ea ratio > 12, the LA dimension index > 30 mm/m², an LV endsystolic diameter (LVESD) > 55 mm, severe PHT, and associated second-degree MR (p < 0.05). (4) Conclusions: AS patients had an immediate postoperative evolution in terms of LV remodeling, and LV systolic and diastolic function were more favorable compared to those with AR. The restrictive LVDFP was reversible, especially after the AVR for AS. The main prognostic predictors were the presence of restrictive LVDFP, advanced age, preoperative AR, severe LV systolic dysfunction, and severe PHT. Full article

Feeding farm animals with aflatoxin-contaminated feed can cause various severe toxic effects, leading to increased susceptibility to infectious diseases and increased mortality, weight loss, poor performance and reduced reproductive capability. Following ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs, aflatoxins are metabolized and biotransformed differently in animals. Swine metabolism is not effective in detoxifying and excreting aflatoxins, meaning the risk of aflatoxicosis is increased. Thus, it is of great importance to elucidate the metabolism and all metabolic pathways associated with this mycotoxin. The damage induced by AFB1 in cells and tissues consists of inhibition of cell proliferation, carcinogenicity, immunosuppression, mutagenicity, oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage, leading to pathological lesions in the liver, spleen, lymph node, kidney, uterus, heart, and lungs of swine. At present, it is a challenging task and of serious concern to completely remove aflatoxins and their metabolites from feedstuff; thus, the aim of this study was a literature review on the deleterious effects of aflatoxins on swine metabolism, as well as alternatives that contribute to the detoxification or amelioration of aflatoxin-induced effects in farm animal feed. Full article