From the development of a new nanomaterial-based device to the early disease diagnosis of lung cancer based on the volatomic and proteomic pattern of exhaled breath - Innovative stratey for selective removal of ethyl carbamate from wines through the development of a molecular imprinted polymer coated on celulose nanofibers

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Publications

Volatomic pattern of breast cancer and cancer-free tissues as a powerful strategy to identify potential biomarkers

Publication . Silva, Catarina; Perestrelo, Rosa; Silva, Pedro; Capelinha, Filipa; Tomás, Helena; Câmara, José S.

Breast cancer (BC), ranked as the fifth amongst all cancers, remains at the top of women’s cancers worldwide followed by colorectal, lung, cervix, and stomach cancers. The main handicap of most of the screening/diagnostic methods is based on their low sensitivity and specificity and the invasive behavior of most sampling procedures. The aim of this study was to establish the volatomic pattern of BC and cancer-free (CF) tissues (n = 30) from the same patients, as a powerful tool to identify a set of volatile organic metabolite (VOM) potential BC biomarkers which might be used together or complement with the traditional BC diagnostics strategies, through the integration of chromatographic data, obtained by solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME/GC-qMS), with chemometric tools. A total of four metabolites: limonene, decanoic acid, acetic acid and furfural presented the highest contribution towards discrimination of BC and CF tissues (VIP > 1, p < 0.05). The discrimination efficiency and accuracy of BC tissue metabolites was ascertained by ROC curve analysis that allowed the identification of some metabolites with high sensitivity and specificity. The results obtained with this approach suggest the possibility of identifying endogenous metabolites as a platform to find potential BC biomarkers and pave the way to investigate the related metabolomic pathways in order to improve BC diagnostic tools. Moreover, deeper investigations could unravel novel mechanistic insights into the disease pathophysiology.

2019Journal article

Open access

Untargeted urinary 1H NMR-based metabolomic pattern as a potential platform in breast cancer detection

Publication . Silva, Catarina L.; Olival, Ana; Perestrelo, Rosa; Silva, Pedro; Tomás, Helena; Câmara, José S.

: Breast cancer (BC) remains the second leading cause of death among women worldwide. An emerging approach based on the identification of endogenous metabolites (EMs) and the establishment of the metabolomic fingerprint of biological fluids constitutes a new frontier in medical diagnostics and a promising strategy to differentiate cancer patients from healthy individuals. In this work we aimed to establish the urinary metabolomic patterns from 40 BC patients and 38 healthy controls (CTL) using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) as a powerful approach to identify a set of BC-specific metabolites which might be employed in the diagnosis of BC. Orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was applied to a 1H-NMR processed data matrix. Metabolomic patterns distinguished BC from CTL urine samples, suggesting a unique metabolite profile for each investigated group. A total of 10 metabolites exhibited the highest contribution towards discriminating BC patients from healthy controls (variable importance in projection (VIP) >1, p < 0.05). The discrimination efficiency and accuracy of the urinary EMs were ascertained by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis that allowed the identification of some metabolites with the highest sensitivities and specificities to discriminate BC patients from healthy controls (e.g. creatine, glycine, trimethylamine N-oxide, and serine). The metabolomic pathway analysis indicated several metabolism pathway disruptions, including amino acid and carbohydrate metabolisms, in BC patients, namely, glycine and butanoate metabolisms. The obtained results support the high throughput potential of NMR-based urinary metabolomics patterns in discriminating BC patients from CTL. Further investigations could unravel novel mechanistic insights into disease pathophysiology, monitor disease recurrence, and predict patient response towards therapy.

2019Journal article

Open access

Rapid spectrophotometric methods as a tool to assess the total phenolics and antioxidant potential over grape ripening: a case study of Madeira grapes

Publication . Perestrelo, Rosa; Suilva, Catarina; Silva, Pedro; Câmara, José Sousa

The aim of this study was to improve the knowledge of phenolic content and antioxidant potential during ripening of different grape varieties (Malvasia, Sercial and Tinta Negra) used to produce Madeira wine. Rapid spectrophotometric methods were selected to obtain this information, since these methods could be used as a routine analytical procedure, being easy, simple, rapid, and cost-effective. A significant correlation was observed between total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity for all grape varieties under study, which suggests that phenolics either alone or in combination are responsible for the grapes antioxidant capacity. Our findings showed significant differences (p < 0.05) for phenolic content and antioxidant capacity for all the studied grape varieties. Sercial grapes showed the highest values of phenolics and antioxidant capacity. Moreover, grape ripening stages revealed a significant impact on grapes phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. This information could be used by viticulturists and winemakers to improve and define Vitis vinifera L. grapes harvest management in order to maximize its bioactive potential.

2018Journal article

Restricted access

Fingerprint targeted compounds in authenticity of sugarcane honey: an approach based on chromatographic and statistical data

Publication . Silva, Pedro; Silva, Catarina L.; Perestrelo, Rosa; Nunes, Fernando M.; Câmara, José S.

ugarcane honey (SCH) is a black syrup recognized by its excellent quality, being produced in Madeira Island using the regional sugarcane cultivars and following a traditional and peculiar manufacturing and storage processes. However, some low-quality commercial products have been labeled as SCH but do not respect its criteria, revealing the need of develop powerful strategies in order to detect and prevent adulterations. The knowledge of furanic derivatives (FDs) profile, produced during browning reactions that occurs during food processing and storage, emerged as a promising strategy in food quality and fraud prevention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish the FDs profiling of typical SCH produced by certified and non-certified producers, in different geographical regions (Madeira and Brazil), based on microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) as a useful approach to define its typicality and authenticity. These parameters are defined through the differentiation and discrimination of FDs profiles among other sugarcane-derived products using multivariate statistical analysis (ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey, principal components analysis, partial least square, linear discriminant analysis and hierarchical clustering). The results demonstrated that SCH samples from non-certified producers present the highest levels of FDs. In addition, SCH samples from Brazil present higher levels of FDs than samples from Madeira region. The obtained results revealed that the proposed approach is a valuable strategy to establish the typicality of SCH, ensuring its quality, authenticity, safety control and a useful support regarding the application of SCH from Madeira Island to EU certification.

2018Journal article

Restricted access

Unraveling Vitis vinifera L. grape maturity markers based on integration of terpenic pattern and chemometric methods

Publication . Perestrelo, Rosa; Silva, Catarina; Silva, Pedro; Câmara, José S.

The current research attempts to provide an alternative tool for grape maturity measurement related to the wine composition since, the classical parameters (weight grape berries, sugar content, titratable acidity), commonly used in the winemaking industry, do not provide any sensorial information. In this context, the evolution of terpenic compounds (TC) during ripening of four V. vinifera L. grape varieties - Bual, Malvasia, Sercial (white grapes) and Tinta Negra (red grapes), was investigated, in addition to the establishment of terpenic pattern, using headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with GC–MS. Using the optimal analytical conditions were identified 62 TC in the investigated V. vinifera L. grapes. The integration of chromatographic and chemometric data provides a powerful strategy to identify potential maturity markers. The maximum potential of mono- and sesquiterpenic compounds was reached at maturity, whereas the highest levels of norisoprenoids were observed at véraison. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLS-R) was employed to describe the relationship between classical parameters and TC. Based on PLS-R models, three monoterpenic (linalool, α-terpineol, carvomenthol), one sesquiterpenic (bicyclogermacrene) and two norisoprenoids compounds (vitispirane I, β-damascenone) could be used to define the optimum harvest date. The obtained results represent a very important tool to support, in an objective way, the winemakers decision for long-term strategic planning based on the sensory potentialities of grape varieties and consequently improving the excellence of Madeira wine.

2018Journal article

Restricted access