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The relationship between salivary proteome and dietary habits was studied in previous works, where a relationship between salivary proteins like cystatins and polyphenol/tannin levels in diet was observed. However, it remains to be elucidated if this association results from an effect of polyphenol-rich food ingestion on saliva composition. The aim of this work was to test the effects of apple intake on the saliva proteome, both in the short and medium term (after 4 days of continuous intake). By incubating saliva samples with apple phenolic-rich extract, protein bands containing α-amylase, S-type cystatins, and proline-rich proteins (PRPs) appeared in the fraction that precipitated, showing the potential of these (poly)phenols to precipitate salivary proteins. Among these, it was salivary cystatins that presented changes in their levels both in the saliva samples collected immediately after apple intake and in the ones collected after 4 days of intake of an extra amount of apple. These results support the thought that intake is reflected in the salivary proteome. The effect of a polyphenol-rich food, like the apple, on salivary cystatin levels is in line with results observed in animal models and, due to the involvement of these proteins in oral food perception, it would be interesting to explore in future studies the effect of these changes on sensory perception and acceptance of polyphenol-rich food.

Despite the recognized advantages of Mediterranean Diet (MD), the adherence to it decreased with modern lifestyle, where the time dedicated to acquisition, preparation/confection of food and meals diminished. At the same time, Mediterranean regions face a growth in the levels of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, sometimes together with undernutrition that affects other parts of the population. This chapter make a presentation about MD as a sustainable food system, essential to promote food security, at the same time that the methods of food production and consumption must respect the environment, maintain biodiversity, and economic society valorisation. Also, it shows MD associated with several factors such as gender, marital status, education level, lifestyle, and body weight. Maintaining the traditional MD pattern is crucial for public health, particularly in pandemic contexts such as COVID-19 where it shows the opportunity and relevance of adopt and promote MD as a healthy and sustainable diet.

Background and Objectives: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to search individual, sociodemographic and environmental predictors of COVID-19 outcomes. Materials and Methods: A convenience sample of 1036 COVID-19 confirmed patients (3–99 years, mean 59 years, 482 females) who sought treatment at the emergency units of the public health system of Diadema (Brazil, March–October 2020) was included. Primary data were collected from medical records: sex, age, occupation/education, onset of symptoms, presence of chronic diseases/treatment and outcome (death and non-death). Secondary socioeconomic and environmental data were provided by the Department of Health. Results: The mean time spent between COVID-19 symptom onset and admission to the health system was 7.4 days. Principal component analysis summarized secondary sociodemographic data, and a Poisson regression model showed that the time between symptom onset and health system admission was higher for younger people and those from the least advantaged regions (availability of electricity, a sewage network, a water supply and garbage collection). A multiple logistic regression model showed an association of age (OR = 1.08, 1.05–1.1), diabetes (OR = 1.9, 1.1–3.4) and obesity (OR = 2.9, 1.1–7.6) with death outcome, while hypertension and sex showed no significant association. Conclusion: The identification of vulnerable groups may help the development of health strategies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Background: Oral food perception plays a major role in food acceptance, although the way it relates with food preferences and final choices in adults is still debatable. The objective of the present study was to assess the relationship between gustatory function, dietary habits and fruit and vegetable preferences. Methods: Recognition thresholds, suprathreshold and hedonics were accessed for sweet, bitter, sour, salty and astringency in 291 adult participants. A Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and a questionnaire for assessment of preferences for individual fruit and vegetables were filled by the participants. Results: Three clusters were obtained: “most sensitive”, “less sensitive” and “less sensitive only for sour”. The less sensitive cluster showed lower preferences for fruit and vegetables and higher intake of sweets and fast foods, whereas higher preferences for sweet veggies were observed in the “most sensitive” cluster. Basic tastes and astringency hedonics did not associate with fruit and vegetable preferences, but the sensitivity for these oral sensations did. Conclusions: Taste and astringency sensitivities are related with the preference for fruit and vegetables, being also associated with some dietary habits. The effectiveness of the strategies to promote plant-based healthy food consumption may benefit from the knowledge of individuals’ gustatory function. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Cistus ladanifer L. is a shrub present in Mediterranean areas without major use, but which can be incorporated into ruminant diets, improving the digestive efficiency of dietary protein and product quality. The high levels of plant secondary metabolites, including condensed tannins, may be responsible for the beneficial properties of the plant, but can also reduce palatability. In this study, C. ladanifer was incorporated into lambs’ diets, either as aerial parts or as a condensed tannin extract, reaching 1.25% and 2.5% of condensed tannins of dry matter. Saliva was collected and electrophoretic profiles of both whole saliva and saliva after in vitro incubation with C. ladanifer tannins were compared. Animals receiving the aerial parts of C. ladanifer decreased feed ingestion. Differences in salivary protein profiles were observed for animals fed with the higher levels of aerial parts of the plant (CL2.5 group). Most of the lambs’ salivary proteins were present in the precipitate formed after tannin-saliva incubation, and one of the bands increased in CL2.5 group was present in high proportion in the precipitate. None of the protein bands stained pink with Coomassie Brilliant Blue, suggesting the absence, or low amounts, of proline-rich proteins in lamb saliva. The results suggest that the aerial parts of C. ladanifer are poor in palatability and that salivary proteins from lambs, due to their affinity for this plant’s secondary metabolites, can contribute to this. Further protein identification is needed, as well as studies to access the stability of the tannin-protein complexes through the gastrointestinal tract.

In this report, updated information and future perspectives about the use of saliva as a sample for laboratory analysis of the Covid-19 are highlighted. Saliva can be used for the direct detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the quantification of the specific immunoglobulins produced against it, and for the evaluation of the non-specific, innate immune response of the patient. Moreover, a deeper knowledge of potential changes in the saliva proteome in this disease may allow the identification of new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, or even help our understanding of the mechanisms associated with the disease. With the development of appropriate sample collection and processing methods and the use of adequate assays, saliva can provide useful clinical information about the disease and could be potentially included in guidelines for sample collection for the diagnosis, disease management, and control of Covid-19.

It is widely recognized that smelling food results in a mouth-watering feeling and influences appetite. However, besides changes in volume, little is known about the effects that food odours have on the composition of saliva. The aim of the present study was to access the effects that smelling bread has on saliva proteome and to compare such effects with those of chewing and ingesting it. Besides a significant increase in saliva flow rate, together with a decrease in total protein concentration, bread odour induced changes in the proportion of different salivary proteins. The expression levels of two spots of cystatins and two spots of amylase increased due to olfactory stimulation, similar to what happened with bread mastication, suggesting that odour can allow anticipation of the type of food eaten and consequently the physiological oral changes necessary to that ingestion. An interesting finding was that bread odour increased the expression levels of several protein spots of immunoglobulin chains, which were decreased by both bread or rice mastication. This may be of clinical relevance since food olfactory stimulation of salivary immunoglobulins can be used to potentiate the oral immune function of saliva. Moreover, the effects of bread odour in the levels of salivary proteins, previously observed to be involved in oral food processing led to the hypothesis of an influence of this odour in the sensory perception of foods further ingested. Further studies are needed to elucidate this point, as well as whether the changes observed for bread odour are specific, or if different food odours lead to similar salivary proteome responses.

The present chapter revises the current knowledge about the use of salivary biomarkers for metabolic and endocrine disease diagnosis and monitoring in humans and different animal species. Currently, most information available comes from human medicine and studies performed with experimental animals such as mouse or rat, and less from other veterinary species. Furthermore, since obesity and its-related pathologies are currently recognised as the biggest worldwide public health crisis and socioeconomic problem in the twenty-first century, this chapter will focus most on this disease.

The present chapter aims to present what is known about the involvement of saliva in the way humans and animals perceive the sensory characteristics of diet. The chapter will start by presenting the biology of flavour perception and how it influences food acceptance and choice. We will then review the newest information on the participation of saliva in flavour and taste perception and the effect of pathologies in oral sensory perception.

COVID-19 reached pandemic level in March 2020 and the number of confirmed cases continued to increase worldwide. The clinical course of the disease has not yet been fully characterized, and some specific symptoms related to smell, taste, and feeding behavior require further examination. The present study aimed to assess the presence of symptoms related to the feeding behavior occurred during and/or after COVID-19 in adults residing in Portugal and to link them to disease severity using a multivariate approach. Data were collected from May to September 2020, through a questionnaire answered online containing questions about general and specific symptoms before, during and after COVID-19. 362 participants were included: 201 were symptomatic, being 15 hospitalized and 186 non-hospitalized. Cluster analysis grouped the symptomatic non-hospitalized participants as mild and severe cases. For these patients, the most frequent symptoms related to the feeding process were smell disorders in 40% and 62%, taste disorders in 37% and 60%, and dry mouth, in 23% and 48% of the mild and severe cases, respectively. Dry mouth was significantly associated with difficulty to swallow, pain during swallow, choking when eating or drinking, and preference for mushy/pasty foods (p

Saliva secretion changes in response to different stimulation. Studies performed in animals and humans suggest that dietary constituents may influence saliva composition, although the dynamics of these changes, and how they are specific for each type of food, are little known. The objective of the present study was to access the short-term effects of different foods in salivation and salivary protein composition. Twelve participants were tested for four snacks (yoghurt, bread, apple and walnuts). Non-stimulated saliva was collected before and at 0′, 5′ and 30′ after each snack intake. Flow rate, total protein, alpha-amylase enzymatic activity and salivary protein profile were analyzed. Yoghurt and apple were the snacks resulting in higher salivary changes, with higher increases in flow rate and alpha-amylase activity immediately after intake. The expression levels of immunoglobulin chains decreased after the intake of all snacks, whereas cystatins and one pink band (proline-rich proteins—PRPs) increased only after yoghurt intake. Walnut’s snack was the one resulting in lower changes, probably due to lower amounts eaten. Even so, it resulted in the increase in one PRPs band. In conclusion, changes in saliva composition varies with foods, with variable changes in proteins related to oral food processing and perception.

Dogs develop only some of the components of the human metabolic syndrome (MetS). Thus, in order to study possible MetS-related alterations in dogs, human MetS criteria were adapted to define canine MetS or so-called obesity-related metabolic dysfunction (ORMD). The main objective of this study was to identify changes in the salivary proteome of obese dogs with ORMD in comparison with obese dogs without ORMD which may constitute potential salivary biomarkers for assessing ORMD. In a first phase, 12 adult obese dogs with ORMD (N = 6) and without ORMD (N = 6) were included in the study. Subsequently, and with the aim of validating and strengthening the results, additional 12 obese dogs (6 with and 6 without ORMD) were tested in an independent experiment following the same protocol. Saliva samples were subjected to a quantitative proteomics analysis and the levels of nine salivary proteins were found to be significantly different between groups, among them those which had greatest fold-change were proteins involved in glycolysis and oxidative stress. In conclusion, despite metabolic syndrome to include different combinations of diseases, the observation of differences in salivary proteome suggests a potential of this fluid to understand the pathophysiology of the disease. Significance This is the first study evaluating proteomes of saliva in dogs, as a non invasive sample, in order to increase knowledge about the metabolic/physiopathological changes related to obesity-related metabolic dysfunction (ORMD) together with the identification of potential biomarkers for its diagnosis. As approximately 20% of dogs with naturally occurring obesity were described to suffer ORMD associated with insulin resistance and hypoadiponectinemia, the fact that indicate possible links between ORMD and associated diseases.

Objective To study the effect of the satiety hormone, leptin, in saliva proteome and salivary gland histology and ultrastructure. Design Increases in blood leptin levels were induced through mini-pump infusion in male Wistar rats, during a period of 7 days. Saliva was collected before and at the end of the experimental period, for proteomic analysis, and major salivary glands were collected, at the end, for biochemical, histological and ultrastructural analysis. Results Immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of leptin receptors in major salivary glands. Salivary amylase levels and enzymatic activity were decreased in saliva, whereas the enzymatic activity of this protein was increased in the cytosol of parotid gland cells. Transmission electron microscopy allowed the observation of high number of electron-dense granules in cytosol of parotid acinar cells, from leptin treated animals. Conclusions Increased levels of plasmatic leptin result in changes in saliva composition and salivary glands function. To our knowledge, this is the first study providing evidences for a potential role of leptin in salivary gland secretion and saliva composition. An understanding of how appetite/satiety factors influence saliva composition and how this composition influences food processing in mouth may be relevant in understanding ingestivebehaviour.

Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD) is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder, caused by deficiency or absence of the alpha-galactosidase A activity, with a consequent glycosphingolipid accumulation. Biomarkers and imaging findings may be useful for diagnosis, identification of an organ involvement, therapy monitoring and prognosis. The aim of this article is to review the current available literature on biomarkers and imaging findings of AFD patients. An extensive bibliographic review from PubMed, Medline and Clinical Key databases was performed by a group of experts from nephrology, neurology, genetics, cardiology and internal medicine, aiming for consensus. Lyso-GB3 is a valuable biomarker to establish the diagnosis. Proteinuria and creatinine are the most valuable to detect renal damage. Troponin I and high-sensitivity assays for cardiac troponin T can identify patients with cardiac lesions, but new techniques of cardiac imaging are essential to detect incipient damage. Specific cerebrovascular imaging findings are present in AFD patients. Techniques as metabolomics and proteomics have been developed in order to find an AFD fingerprint. Lyso-GB3 is important for evaluating the pathogenic mutations and monitoring the response to treatment. Many biomarkers can detect renal, cardiac and cerebrovascular involvement, but none of these have proved to be important to monitoring the response to treatment. Imaging features are preferred in order to find cardiac and cerebrovascular compromise in AFD patients. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This Research Communication describes, for the first time, the detection of HSP70 in saliva of dairy cows. Thermal stress is a major environmental stress that limits animal growth, metabolism, and productivity. The cellular response to heat stress involves the synthesis of heat shock proteins (HSPs), presumably to protect the functional stability of cells at increasing temperatures. HSP70 has been found to be present in cattle blood serum and may also be present in other secretory fluids, such as saliva, as already observed in humans. The aim of this study was to detect heat shock protein HSP70 in bovine saliva. Saliva samples were taken from higher- (n = 5) and lower milk producing (n = 5) Holstein-Friesian cows in summer and in winter for the detection of HSP70. HSP70 concentrations were assayed using the ELISA technique. Salivary HSP70 concentrations ranged from 0·524 to 12·174 ng/ml in cows. Higher salivary HSP70 concentrations were significantly associated with higher milk production and higher environmental temperature, but not with rectal temperature.

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) is a bone pathology that can be associated with a number of focal or systemic diseases, particularly those affecting the respiratory system. HOA is characterized by proliferative periostosis of the long bones, especially in their distal and periarticular regions. This report presents a probable case of HOA in the skeleton of an elderly Portuguese male from Évora, Portugal, who died in 1970. The skeleton was evaluated by morphological, radiological, and histological methods. We found bilateral periosteal proliferation of the tubular bones, remodeling of the phalanges of the feet, and new bone formation on rib visceral surfaces. Bone alterations are more severe on the left tibia and fibula, where lesions display a ‘tree bark’ appearance, leading to severe thickening of the diaphysis. Microscopically, we observed deposition of porous woven bone. Our evaluation also considers a differential diagnosis of the lesions, which includes melorheostosis, hypervitaminosis A, fluorosis, thyroid acropachy, tuberculosis, and treponematosis. AcknowledgmentsThis chapter is funded by FEDER Funds through the Opera-tional Programme for Competitiveness Factors – COMPETE andNational Funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Tech-nology under the Strategic Projects PEst-C/AGR/UI0115/2011,PEst-OE/AGR/UI0115/2014 and through the Programa OperacionalRegional do Alentejo (InAlentejo) Operation ALENT-07-0262-FEDER-001871/Laboratório de Biotecnologia Aplicada e Tecnolo-gias Agro-Ambientais. The funding source played no role in thedevelopment of the present work or upon its submission for pub-lication.

Sheep, cattle and goat are domestic ruminants of significant economic interest in the Mediterranean region. Although sharing the same pasture ranges, they ingest different plants and plant parts and, consequently different levels of tannins. This suggests an ability to detect and adapt ingestion according to animal physiological limits of tolerance for plant secondary metabolites. This review will detail the effects of dietary tannins on feeding behavior, and the role of the oral cavity in this process, with focus on such ruminant species. The role of salivary protein profile in tannin perception in the oral cavity, and as a defense mechanism, will be discussed.

Saliva provides a medium for short-term adaptation to changes in diet composition, namely, the presence of plant secondary metabolites. Salivary proteins have biological functions that have particular influence on oral homeostasis, taste, and digestive function. Some salivary proteins, such as proline-rich proteins, are present in browsers but absent in grazers. Despite the significance of salivary proteins, their expression patterns in many herbivores are unknown. We investigated the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profile of parotid salivary proteins from two domesticated species, one a grazer, the sheep, Ovis aries, and the other a mixed feeder, the goat, Capra hircus, both fed on the same conventional diet. With 12.5% polyacrylamide linear gels, we observed uniform patterns of salivary proteins within the two species. In the goat profile, 21 major bands were observed, and 19 in the sheep profile. Each band was subjected to peptide mass fingerprinting for purposes of identification, allowing for 16 successful protein identifications. Marked differences were observed between the species in the region of 25-35 kDa molecular weights: one band was present in significantly different intensities; three bands were present only in goats; and one band was present only in sheep. This is the first report of a comparison of the protein salivary composition of sheep and goats and suggests that future research should be conducted to reveal a physiological function for salivary proteins related to the differences in feeding behavior of these species.

Whole saliva contains a wide variety of proteins with diverse functions, namely proteins which participate in teeth and oral tissues protection, as well as proteins related to ingestive and digestive processes. Several studies, in animals and humans, present evidences that saliva is involved in ingestive behavior. The link between saliva composition and oral perception is increasingly reported. Several studies report that oral sensations, such as astringency, result from interaction between food constituents (e.g. polyphenols) and salivary proteins. Moreover, the involvement of saliva in taste sensitivity has been also considered and an example was the correlation established between taste dysfunction and reduced levels of salivary carbonic anhydrase VI. More recently, studies presented evidences that protein saliva composition is also associated to fat perception and liking, as well as to sensitivity for the bitter taste of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and caffeine. Besides the involvement of saliva in oral perception, which can greatly influence food choices, the influence of this fluid in ingestive behavior can also be considered by the role of certain salivary proteins in digestive processes or even in the regulation of energy intake: for example, leptin and ghrelin, which are respectively involved in satiety and appetite, are present in salivary secretion. Electrophoresis has been applied for salivary protein separation for years and progresses have been made until now. Several studies report salivary protein separation according to their mass, isoelectric point and both parameters (two-dimensional electrophoresis – 2D), both for human and animal saliva. The application of electrophoresis technique to saliva samples, together with advances in mass spectrometry, for protein identification, resulted in an increased interest in this biological fluid as a source of biomarkers. In fact, saliva collection has the great advantage of being relatively easy, cheap and noninvasive to perform, presenting proteins also existent in other body fluids such as blood. Electrophoresis has also the potential of being used in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples. This possibility has the great advantage of allowing access to already acquired tissue samples which can be readily correlated with histological parameters. Moreover, it provides access to tissue that would be either difficult to collect prospectively in a timely manner or are unlikely to be available as fresh samples. For salivary composition analysis it may have the potential of allowing the study of individual salivary glands composition, even in situations where no individualized glandular saliva collection was possible. As such, this may have the potential of aiding in the comprehension of salivary gland regulation and different contribution for total salivary composition. This chapter gives an overview of the use of electrophoresis in studies about the involvement of saliva in ingestive behavior. Studies about salivary protein composition in oral sensations and taste sensitivity will be reviewed. The particularities in the use of electrophoresis in saliva samples will be discussed, as well as the advantages and limitations of the technique for the analysis of this body fluid. Moreover, the promising use of electrophoresis of paraffin-embeded tissues for the study of saliva will be proposed. Finally, the major limitations in the electrophoretic study of salivary proteins, such as the presence of high abundant proteins (impairing the study of scarce ones), the high content of mucins, the high proteolitic activity, among others, will be critically revised based on our experience.

Salivary a-amylase, a major protein in saliva, has been described as a marker for sympathetic nervous system activity, hence for metabolic energy balance. In this context, its expression in overweight and obesity is of interest. Rats fed with a diet enriched with sunflower oil differentially gained weight yielding two subgroups according to their susceptibility (OP) or resistance (OR) to obesity. Elevated plasmatic levels of leptin in the OP subgroup and altered plasmatic lipid profiles (lower triglycerides and higher total choles- terol/HDL ratio compared to controls) in OR subgroup were observed. Animals from OP subgroup presented higher a-amylase expression and activity even prior to the dietary treatment, suggesting that this salivary protein may constitute a putative indicator of susceptibility for fat tissue accumulation. After 18 weeks of high-fat diet consumption, salivary a-amylase levels did not significantly changed in OP subgroup, but increased 3-fold in OR subgroup. The raise of a-amylase for the latter might represent an adaptation to lower starch intake. These results suggest that salivary a-amylase secretion might be useful to predict susceptibility for weight gain induced by high-fat diet consumption. This paper is funded by FEDER Funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE and National Funds through FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology under the Strategic Projects PEst-C/AGR/UI01, PEst-OE/AGR/ UI0115/2014, 15/2011, PEst-C/SAU/LA0001/2011 and PEst-C/QUI/ UI0062/2011. Authors acknowledge also the financial support from the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) in the form of Post- Doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/63240/2009) of Elsa Lamy. The Portu- guese Science Foundation (FCT) played no role in the develop- ment of the present work or upon its submission for publication.

Montados are agro-silvo-pastoral ecosystems, typical of the Southwest Iberian Peninsula, of high socio-economic and conservation importance, where grazing is a dominant activity. Montados are characterized by an open tree canopy of Quercus sp. and a diverse undercover of shrubs and grasslands that constitute the plant food resources for grazing animals. Plant food resources of Montados are highly variable, both spatially and seasonally, in quantity and quality. Reliable and easy to use methods to monitor grazing are necessary to allow proper understanding of foraging strategies of grazing animals and to set sustainable grazing management. We describe the main characteristics of the plant food resources available for grazing animals, striking its variability, and revise the potential of using N-alkanes and saliva proteome methods to assess foraging strategies in Montados. In a scenario of dynamic multiple choices, we discuss the use of n-alkane methodology for the simultaneous estimation of diet composition and voluntary intake and saliva proteome as a mean of increasing the knowledge on diet adjustments.

Fukada and Yasuda were the first to describe bone piezoelectrical properties, in the 1950s. When submitting dry bone samples to compressive load, an electrical potential was generated, an occurrence explained by the direct piezoelectric effect (Fukada and Yasuda, 1957). The nature of the piezoelectric effect is closely related to the occurrence of electric dipole moments in solids. In connective tissues such as bone, skin, tendon and dentine, the dipole moments are probably related to the collagen fibbers, composed by aligned strongly polar protein molecules (ElMessiery, 1981; Fukada and Yasuda, 1964; Halperin et al., 2004). The architecture of bone itself, with its aligned concentric lamellae, concurs for the existence of potentials along bone structure (ElMessiery, 1981).

Thisin vivostudy presents the preliminary results of the use of a novel piezoelectric actuator for orthopedic application. The innovative use of the converse piezoelectric effect to mechanically stimulate bone was achieved with polyvinylidene fluoride actuators implanted in osteotomy cuts in sheep femur and tibia. The biological response around the osteotomies was assessed through histology and histomorphometry in nondecalcified sections and histochemistry and immunohistochemistry in decalcified sections, namely, through Masson's trichrome, and labeling of osteopontin, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase. After one-month implantation, total bone area and new bone area were significantly higher around actuators when compared to static controls. Bone deposition rate was also significantly higher in the mechanically stimulated areas. In these areas, osteopontin increased expression was observed. The presentin vivostudy suggests that piezoelectric materials and the converse piezoelectric effect may be used to effectively stimulate bone growth.

The adsorption of mannitol and sorbitol on Au(111) has been followed by differential capacity measurements. Results obtained for the adsorption of these polyalcohols in dilute solutions of HClO 4 and NaClO 4 showed that the adsorption process could be described by a Frumkin isotherm, the parameters of which were determined and discussed. The values of the standard Gibbs energy of adsorption suggest physical adsorption of mannitol and sorbitol, without the existence of specific interactions of the adsorbed molecules with gold. The values of the interaction parameters are negative in both electrolytes, indicating a net attractive interaction in the adsorbed layer. There are noticeable differences between the values of the standard Gibbs energy of adsorption and of the interaction parameter for the two polyols, which have been interpreted in terms of the conformational properties of the two isomers in the adsorbed layer.

Background Previous studies suggested that dietary tannin ingestion may induce changes in mouse salivary proteins in addition to the primarily studied proline-rich proteins (PRPs). The aim of the present study was to determine the protein expression changes induced by condensed tannin intake on the fraction of mouse whole salivary proteins that are unable to form insoluble tannin-protein complexes. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protein separation was used, followed by protein identification by mass spectrometry. Results Fifty-seven protein spots were excised from control group gels, and 21 different proteins were identified. With tannin consumption, the expression levels of one α-amylase isoform and one unidentified protein increased, whereas acidic mammalian chitinase and Muc10 decreased. Additionally, two basic spots that stained pink with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 were newly observed, suggesting that some induced PRPs may remain uncomplexed or form soluble complexes with tannins. Conclusion This proteomic analysis provides evidence that other salivary proteins, in addition to tannin-precipitating proteins, are affected by tannin ingestion. Changes in the expression levels of the acidic mammalian chitinase precursor and in one of the 14 salivary α-amylase isoforms underscores the need to further investigate their role in tannin ingestion.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is the major late complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant [1,2]. In this article, we have analyzed the value of noninvasive day 1100 tests as predictors of severe cGVHD development in 165 patients undergoing allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplant (allo-PBSCT) from a matched related donor. The cumulative incidence of overall, extensive, and severe cGVHD was 67, 56, and 23%, respectively, among patients surviving >100 days after transplant. In univariate analysis, patients displaying an abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) (total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, and GGT > 2 times above the upper normal limit) and a low absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) (

CESAM As interest in using carbon nanotubes for developing biologically compatible systems continues to grow, biological inspiration is stimulating new directions for in vivo approaches. The ability to integrate nanotechnology-based systems in the body will provide greater successes if the implanted material is made to mimic elements of the biological milieu especially through tuning physical and chemical characteristics. Here, we demonstrate the highly successful capacity for in vivo implantation of a new carbon nanotube-based composite that is, itself, integrated with a hydroxyapatite-polymethyl methacrylate to create a nanocomposite. The success of this approach is grounded in finely tailoring the physical and chemical properties of this composite for the critical demands of biological integration. This is accomplished through controlling the surface modification scheme, which affects the interactions between carbon nanotubes and the hydroxyapatite-polymethyl methacrylate. Furthermore, we carefully examine cellular response with respect to adhesion and proliferation to examine in vitro compatibility capacity. Our results indicate that this new composite accelerates cell maturation through providing a mechanically competent bone matrix; this likely facilitates osteointegration in vivo. We believe that these results will have applications in a diversity of areas including carbon nanotube, regeneration, chemistry, and engineering research. NANO/NMed-AT/0115/2007 SFRH/BPD/14677/2003 FCT

Exercise training is known to induce an increase in free radical production potentially leading to enhanced muscle injury. Vitamins C and E are well known antioxidants that may prevent muscle cell damage. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of these supplemental antioxidant vitamins on markers of oxidative stress, muscle damage and performance of elite soccer players. Ten male young soccer players were divided into two groups. Supplementation group (n = 5) received vitamins C and E supplementation daily during the pre-competitive season (S group), while the placebo group (PL group, n = 5) received a pill containing maltodextrin. Both groups performed the same training load during the three-month pre-season training period. Erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes glutathione reductase, catalase and plasma carbonyl derivatives did not show any significant variation among the experimental groups. Similarly, fitness level markers did not differ among the experimental groups. However, S group demonstrated lower lipid peroxidation and muscle damage levels (p < 0.05) compared to PL group at the final phase of pre-competitive season. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that vitamin C and E supplementation in soccer players may reduce lipid peroxidation and muscle damage during high intensity efforts, but did not enhance performance.

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The effect of electrolyte type and concentration on the differential capacitance of the 1,2-dichloroethane/water interface has been measured. The results show that the differential capacitance is controlled by the pair ion (1)–counter-ion (2), where 1 and 2 denote the different phases. At constant organic electrolyte composition the capacity increases in the order, F– MTMA+ > TBA+ > TOA+, TPB– > TCPB–. In very dilute solutions, the effects are not noticeable.

Several grading systems have been developed in the bone marrow transplantation setting in attempts to predict survival in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). In this study, we evaluated the prognostic value of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) scoring system and investigated for any additional prognostic factors in a series of 171 patients undergoing peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) from matched related donors. The cumulative incidence of cGVHD was 70%; cumulative incidences of mild, moderate, and severe cGVHD were 29%, 42% and 28%, respectively. Overall, 68% of patients were free from immunosuppression 5 years after transplantation. Absence of previous acute GVHD (aGVHD; hazard ratio [HR] = 2; P = .004) and mild cGVHD (HR = 4.2; P = .007) increased the probability of being off immunosuppressive treatment by the last follow-up. Overall survival (OS) at 5 years was 52%. Severe cGVHD, according to the NIH scoring system (HR = 13.27; P = .001) adversely influenced outcome, whereas de novo onset (HR = 0.094; P = .003) had a more favorable impact on survival. The combination of both variables allowed us to identify 4 different subgroups of patients with OS of 82%, 70%, 50%, and 25%. Our findings indicate that the NIH scoring system has some prognostic value in patients undergoing PBSCT and, together with the type of onset, must be considered to predict the possible outcome of patients who develop cGVHD. © 2008 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Reinforcement of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) by adding multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) allows improvement of mechanical characteristics for biomedical applications. However, there is controversy when it comes to carbon nanotubes toxicity. Our objective was the in vitro study of UHMWPE/MWCNT. The results show good biocompatibility of the nanocomposite, comparable to results obtained by other authors.