Metabolomics to Study Human Aging: A Review.

In the last years, with the increase in the average life expectancy, the world's population is progressively aging, which entails social, health and economic problems. In this sense, the need to better understand the physiology of the aging process becomes an urgent need. Since the study of aging in humans is challenging, cellular and animal models are widely used as alternatives. Omics, namely metabolomics, have emerged in the study of aging, with the aim of biomarker discovering, which may help to uncomplicate this complex process. This paper aims to summarize different models used for aging studies with their advantages and limitations. Also, this review gathers the published articles referring to biomarkers of aging already discovered using metabolomics approaches, comparing the results obtained in the different studies. Finally, the most frequently used senescence biomarkers are described, along with their importance in understanding aging.

Development and validation of the clinical report form for nodular thyroid pathologies

Abstract Objectives: The aim of this study is to develop and validate a novel clinical report form in the format of a structured interview to enable the characterization of the Portuguese population of the Baixo Vouga region with different subtypes of nodular thyroid pathologies (NTyPs). Materials and methods: A structured interview was developed and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first structured interview built and validated for that purpose in Portugal. Results: This structured interview enables the identification of possible correlations between each subtype of nodular lesions and sociodemographic data, consumption habits and lifestyle, endocrine history, and family predisposition. Conclusion: The novel structured interview will simultaneously, enable a detailed characterization of the group of patients with nodular thyroid lesions and will support future metabolomic studies.

Development and validation of the clinical report form for nodular thyroid pathologies.

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop and validate a novel clinical report form in the format of a structured interview to enable the characterization of the Portuguese population of the Baixo Vouga region with different subtypes of nodular thyroid pathologies (NTyPs). Materials and methods: A structured interview was developed and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first structured interview built and validated for that purpose in Portugal. Results: This structured interview enables the identification of possible correlations between each subtype of nodular lesions and sociodemographic data, consumption habits and lifestyle, endocrine history, and family predisposition. Conclusion: The novel structured interview will simultaneously, enable a detailed characterization of the group of patients with nodular thyroid lesions and will support future metabolomic studies.

Educational Interventions to Reduce Prescription and Dispensing of Antibiotics in Primary Care: A Systematic Review of Economic Impact.

Antibiotic resistance remains a crucial global public health problem with excessive and inappropriate antibiotic use representing an important driver of this issue. Strategies to improve antibiotic prescription and dispensing are required in primary health care settings. The main purpose of this review is to identify and synthesize available evidence on the economic impact of educational interventions to reduce prescription and dispensing of antibiotics among primary health care professionals. Information about the clinical impact resulting from the implementation of interventions was also gathered. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and EMBASE were the scientific databases used to search and identify relevant studies. Of the thirty-three selected articles, most consisted of a simple intervention, such as a guideline implementation, while the others involved multifaceted interventions, and differed regarding study populations, designs and settings. Main findings were grouped either into clinical or cost outcomes. Twenty of the thirty-three articles included studies reporting a reduction in outcome costs, namely in antibiotic cost and associated prescription costs, in part due to an overall improvement in the appropriateness of antibiotic use. The findings of this study show that the implementation of educational interventions is a cost-effective strategy to reduce antibiotic prescription and dispensing among primary healthcare providers.

Metabolic Profile Characterization of Different Thyroid Nodules Using FTIR Spectroscopy: A Review.

Thyroid cancer's incidence has increased in the last decades, and its diagnosis can be a challenge. Further and complementary testing based in biochemical alterations may be important to correctly identify thyroid cancer and prevent unnecessary surgery. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a metabolomic technique that has already shown promising results in cancer metabolome analysis of neoplastic thyroid tissue, in the identification and classification of prostate tumor tissues and of breast carcinoma, among others. This work aims to gather and discuss published information on the ability of FTIR spectroscopy to be used in metabolomic studies of the thyroid, including discriminating between benign and malignant thyroid samples and grading and classifying different types of thyroid tumors.

Effects of different freezing parameters on the morphology and viability of preantral follicles after cryopreservation of doe rabbit ovarian tissue.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 1,2-propanediol (PROH), sucrose, trehalose, concentration of cryoprotectants, equilibration method, and postseeding freezing rate on doe rabbit ovarian tissue preservation after freezing, using fractional experimental design. DESIGN: Experimental prospective study. SETTING: Research institute in veterinary and agronomic colleges. ANIMAL(S): Californian doe rabbits. INTERVENTION(S): Ovarian cortices were prepared from ovaries collected in slaughterhouse. Fractional experimental design was used to evaluate simultaneously five chemophysical factors influencing the cryopreservation of ovarian tissue. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Follicle viability by Live/Dead viability/cytotoxicity kit and histologic evaluation of the ovarian tissue. RESULT(S): Experimental design suggests that equilibration method and cryoprotectant concentration have no effect on the proportion of normal follicles. Penetrating and nonpenetrating cryoprotectants seems to influence the preservation of the follicles with advantage for PROH and trehalose. The follicular preservation seems to be highly influenced by the postseeding freezing rate. Freezing rate of 0.3 degrees C/min seems to be less deleterious than 2 degrees C/min. Morphologic preservation ratio reaches 85% using PROH and trehalose. CONCLUSION(S): Cryopreservation of doe rabbit ovarian tissue using conventional cryoprotectant and 0.3 degrees C/min as freezing rate seems to be a promising technique and could be used as a model for women.

Effect of the luteinizing hormone on embryo production in superovulated rabbit does.

For most domestic animals, the responses to superovulation treatments are not controlled as a consequence of the lack of knowledge on exogenous gonadotrophins effects on the ovarian function. The role of luteinizing hormone (LH) on the number and quality of embryos produced was evaluated on rabbit does superovulated with porcine FSH (pFSH). Parameters of embryos recovery, in vitro and in vivo embryo development rates after freezing/thawing were compared. We used three experimental groups: (1) control group without superovulation treatment, (2) "pFSH+pLH" and (3) "pFSH" groups where females were treated with pFSH, respectively, with (20%) or without (0%) porcine LH supplementation. The number of corpora lutea and the number of embryos produced were significantly higher (p<0.001) in superovulated does than in control group (27.1, 26.7 versus 11.9 corpora lutea and 20.3, 21.2 versus 9.6 embryos produced for pFSH+pLH, pFSH and control group, respectively). However, both gonadotrophins administrations (groups 2 and 3) led to defaults of ovulation when compared with untreated does. No significant difference was observed between the number and quality of the embryos produced by does treated with pFSH+pLH or with pFSH alone. Moreover, we observed no significant difference between results of in vivo and in vitro viability assays after thawing. We concluded that pFSH alone seems to be sufficient to stimulate the follicles growth and that exogenous pLH administrated has no effect on the quantity and quality of embryos. Further studies are needed to evaluate the hormonal patterns before and after the gonadotrophins injections in the rabbit species.