Comparative metabolomic profiling of women undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures reveals potential infertility-related biomarkers in follicular fluid.

Infertility is a worldwide concern, affecting one in six couples throughout their reproductive period. Therefore, enhancing the clinical tools available to identify the causes of infertility may save time, money, and emotional distress for the involved parties. This study aims to annotate potential biomarkers in follicular fluid that are negatively affecting pregnancy outcomes in women suffering infertility-related diseases such as endometriosis, tuboperitoneal factor, uterine factor, and unexplained infertility, using a metabolomics approach through high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Plasma membrane permeabilization to explain erythrosine B phototoxicity on in vitro breast cancer cell models.

Lipid oxidation is ubiquitous in cell life under oxygen and essential for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of carcinomas. However, the mechanisms underlying lipid oxidation in rather complex systems such as plasma membranes remain elusive. Herein, Langmuir monolayers were assembled with the lipid extract of glandular breast cancer (MCF7) cells and used to probe the molecular interactions allowing adsorption of the photosensitizer (PS) erythrosine B and subsequent photooxidation outcomes.

Does leukotriene F4 play a major role in the infection mechanism of Candida sp.?

Candidiasis is the most common fungal infection affecting hospitalized patients, especially immunocompromised and critical patients. Limitations regarding the assertive diagnosis of both Candidemia and Candidiasis not only impairs the introduction of effective treatments but also lays a heavy financial burden over the health system. Furthermore, it is still challenging to ascertain whether diagnostic methods are accurate and whether treatment is effective for patients with Candidemia.

Combining Machine Learning and Metabolomics to Identify Weight Gain Biomarkers.

Weight gain is a metabolic disorder that often culminates in the development of obesity and other comorbidities such as diabetes. Obesity is characterized by the development of a chronic, subclinical systemic inflammation, and is regarded as a remarkably important factor that contributes to the development of such comorbidities. Therefore, laboratory methods that allow the identification of subjects at higher risk for severe weight-associated morbidity are of utter importance, considering the health, and safety of populations.

Molecular signatures associated with prostate cancer cell line (PC-3) exposure to inactivated Zika virus.

The recent outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection associated with microcephaly cases has elicited much research on the mechanisms involved in ZIKV-host cell interactions. It has been described that Zika virus impairs cell growth, raising a hypothesis about its oncolytic potential against cancer cells. ZIKV tumor cell growth inhibition was later confirmed for glioblastoma.

Inflammation markers in the saliva of infants born from Zika-infected mothers: exploring potential mechanisms of microcephaly during fetal development.

Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as one of the most medically relevant viral infections of the past decades; the devastating effects of this virus over the developing brain are a major matter of concern during pregnancy. Although the connection with congenital malformations are well documented, the mechanisms by which ZIKV reach the central nervous system (CNS) and the causes of impaired cortical growth in affected fetuses need to be better addressed. We performed a non-invasive, metabolomics-based screening of saliva from infants with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), born from mothers that were infected with ZIKV during pregnancy.

Author Correction: A quantitative study on growth variability and production of ochratoxin A and its derivatives by A. carbonarius and A. niger in grape-based medium.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

An LDI-MSI approach for targeted and untargeted differentiation and assessment of pharmaceutical formulations.

Falsified, counterfeit and adulterated medicines are an endemic problem worldwide that results in both monetary and health-related losses. Developing fast and reliable methods that are able to present a timely result based on the drug's spectral profile is an effort that is sure to benefit those involved in the whole distribution chain. We propose herein a Laser Desorption/Ionization imaging-based method that provides simple and minimal sample preparation; this method is capable of providing specific markers that characterize adulterations, using as proof of concept one of the most adulterated drug products for oral use, sildenafil.

A quantitative study on growth variability and production of ochratoxin A and its derivatives by A. carbonarius and A. niger in grape-based medium.

Aspergillus carbonarius and Aspergillus niger are the main responsible fungi for the accumulation of ochratoxin A (OTA) in wine grapes. Some strains are able to convert the parent mycotoxin into other compounds by means of hydrolysis and/or conjugation reactions through their defense mechanisms and enzymatic activity, leading to the formation of a modified mycotoxin. Thus, the variability of growth and metabolite production are inherent to the strain, occurring distinctively even when submitted to similar conditions.

The role of lipids in the inception, maintenance and complications of dengue virus infection.

Dengue fever is a viral condition that has become a recurrent issue for public health in tropical countries, common endemic areas. Although viral structure and composition have been widely studied, the infection phenotype in terms of small molecules remains poorly established. This contribution providing a comprehensive overview of the metabolic implications of the virus-host interaction using a lipidomic-based approach through direct-infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Outer Membrane Vesicles from Neisseria Meningitidis (Proteossome) Used for Nanostructured Zika Virus Vaccine Production.

The increase of Zika virus (ZIKV) infections in Brazil in the last two years leaves a prophylactic measures on alert for this new and emerging pathogen. Concerning of our positive experience, we developed a new prototype using Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane vesicles (OMV) on ZIKV cell growth in a fusion of OMV in the envelope of virus particles. The fusion of nanoparticles resulting from outer membrane vesicles of N.

Migration from plastic packaging into meat.

Migration is a known phenomenon defined as the partitioning of chemical compounds from the packaging into food, and depends on several factors. Migration assays are generally time-consuming and require specific conditions in order to investigate the behavior of the packaging in different situations. Furthermore, these tests are often performed with food simulants, since the determination of migration under real conditions is highly impaired.

Evaluating the effects of the adulterants in milk using direct-infusion high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Milk is an extremely complex food, capable of providing essential nutrients as well as being an important source of energy, and high-quality proteins and fats. Due to advances in technology, and to meet the increasing demand, production costs have increased, turning milk into a target of adulterations. Routine methods usually applied to certify the quality of the milk are restricted to microbiological tests, and assays that attest the nutritional composition within the expected values.

New Approach of QuEChERS and GC-MS Triple-Quadrupole for the Determination of Ethyl Carbamate Content in Brazilian .

is a popular spirit produced in Brazil, obtained by distillation of fermented sugar cane. Among the contaminants arising from production, ethyl carbamate is a carcinogenic compound that occurs naturally in fermented foods and beverages; in Brazil, the maximum limit established by current legislation is 150 µg L. Quality control is usually performed using gas chromatography; however, robustness and reproducibility of quantitative results may be severely impaired, as the addition of 6-30 g L of sucrose is a common procedure for taste standardization, directly interfering in the results.

A Metabolomic Overview of Follicular Fluid in Cows.

Follicular fluid (FF) protects the oocyte against proteolysis and extrusion during ovulation, providing an appropriate microenvironment that favors proper embryonic development; thereby, FF plays a key role in embryo quality. Being directly related to cattle breeding, studying FF is extremely important in livestock science to measure cattle fertility. This may eventually help to assess the quality of both meat and milk, products widely consumed worldwide.

A fast semi-quantitative screening for cocoa content in chocolates using MALDI-MSI.

Chocolate is a popular food bearing a number of different classifications that are differentiated by proportions of cocoa solids, milk and cocoa butter. Literature brings evidence that chocolates with a high percentage of cocoa solids contribute to good health maintenance due to the presence of phenolic compounds. On the other hand, it is known that the productive process, including pre-processing, may influence the level of these substances in the finished product.

Corrigendum: Serum Metabolic Alterations upon Zika Infection.

[This corrects the article on p. 1954 in vol. 8, PMID: 29067015.

Serum Metabolic Alterations upon Zika Infection.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has recently emerged as a major concern worldwide due to its strong association with nervous system malformation (microcephaly) of fetuses in pregnant women infected by the virus. Signs and symptoms of ZIKV infection are often mistaken with other common viral infections. Since transmission may occur through biological fluids exchange and coitus, in addition to mosquito bite, this condition is an important infectious disease.

A Lipidomics Approach in the Characterization of Zika-Infected Mosquito Cells: Potential Targets for Breaking the Transmission Cycle.

Recent outbreaks of Zika virus in Oceania and Latin America, accompanied by unexpected clinical complications, made this infection a global public health concern. This virus has tropism to neural tissue, leading to microcephaly in newborns in a significant proportion of infected mothers. The clinical relevance of this infection, the difficulty to perform accurate diagnosis and the small amount of data in literature indicate the necessity of studies on Zika infection in order to characterize new biomarkers of this infection and to establish new targets for viral control in vertebrates and invertebrate vectors.

Early developmental stages of Ascaris lumbricoides featured by high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Ascaris lumbricoides is responsible for a highly disseminated helminth parasitic disease, ascariosis, a relevant parasitosis that responds for great financial burden on the public health system of developing countries. In this work, metabolic fingerprinting using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was employed to identify marker molecules from A. lumbricoides in different development stages.