Publications by authors named "Sofia S Pereira"

Article Synopsis
  • Alpha-cell hyperplasia (ACH) is a rare pancreatic condition with various forms and is often associated with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs), although its causes are not well understood.
  • A 72-year-old male with type 2 diabetes was found to have a non-functioning pNET during treatment for gallbladder issues, which revealed mild glucagon elevation and led to surgery.
  • Pathological analysis showed the pNET was glucagon-producing and occurred alongside ACH, emphasizing the need for specialized testing to diagnose such cases even when symptoms suggest a non-functioning tumor.
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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy in women at childbearing age. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a widely accepted sensitive marker of ovarian reserve, which has been suggested that could also act as biomarker of ovarian morphology for PCOS diagnosis. Oxidative stress (OS) is known to be associated and have a negative impact factor in several reproductive conditions, including PCOS.

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Article Synopsis
  • Metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) can improve pregnancy outcomes for obese women and significantly reduce the occurrence of gestational diabetes (GD) compared to non-operated women with similar age and body mass index (BMI).
  • A study comparing pregnancies of women who had MBS to matched controls revealed a lower frequency of GD post-surgery (7.6% vs. 19%) and lower fasting blood glucose levels and birth weight for those who had the surgery.
  • However, MBS was also linked to a higher occurrence of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) babies, which became less significant after accounting for smoking habits, highlighting the need to balance benefits with potential risks associated with MBS during pregnancy.
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Introduction: Single anastomosis duodeno-ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy (SADI-S) is a restrictive/hypoabsorptive procedure recommended for patients with obesity class 3. For safety reasons, SADI-S can be split into a two-step procedure by performing a sleeve gastrectomy (SG) first. This stepwise approach also provides an unprecedented opportunity to disentangle the weight loss mechanisms triggered by each component.

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Malnutrition is usual in patients referred for endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). Refeeding syndrome is rarely observed in PEG-fed patients, which could possibly be associated with reduced absorption induced by prolonged starvation. In patients submitted to PEG after a significant period of fasting, the present study aims to: 1.

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Purpose: Weight loss achieved through bariatric metabolic surgery was demonstrated to be effective at reversing chronic kidney dysfunction associated with obesity-related glomerulopathy. However, robust data on how pre-operative kidney status impacts on bariatric metabolic surgery weight loss outcomes is still lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of kidney dysfunction on weight loss outcomes after bariatric metabolic surgery.

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  • GLP-1 is a hormone that helps regulate energy balance by acting on the gut and brain, and this study investigates the impact of the vagus nerve on its effects.
  • Rats that underwent truncal vagotomy (cutting the vagus nerve) ate less, lost weight, and had different fat distributions compared to control rats, but their resting energy expenditure (REE) remained unchanged.
  • After administration of GLP-1, vagotomized rats showed reduced appetite response and increased leptin levels, hinting at a GLP-1-leptin connection that requires a functional vagus nerve to properly regulate energy homeostasis.
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Obesity surgery candidates are at an increased risk of kidney injury, but pre-operative evaluation usually neglects kidney function assessment. This study aimed to identify renal dysfunction in candidates for bariatric surgery. To reduce the sources of bias, subjects with diabetes, prediabetes under metformin treatment, neoplastic or inflammatory diseases were excluded.

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Obesity is a complex, multifactorial and chronic disease. Bariatric surgery is a safe and effective treatment intervention for obesity and obesity-related diseases. However, weight loss after surgery can be highly heterogeneous and is not entirely predictable, particularly in the long-term after intervention.

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Aim: To evaluate the accuracy of DiaBetter, DiaRem, Ad-DiaRem and 5y-Ad-DiaRem scores' at predicting T2D remission 10 or more years after surgery.

Methods: Patients with obesity and T2D (n = 126) submitted to RYGB with 10 or more years of follow-up. It was a unicentric trial.

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Tumors present dysfunctional vasculature that limits blood perfusion and hinders immune cells delivery. We aimed to investigate if regular voluntary running promotes tumor vascular remodelling, improves intratumoral immune cells infiltration and inhibits tumor growth. Tumors were induced in C57BL/6 male mice (n=28) by subcutaneous inoculation in the dorsal region with a suspension of RM1 cells (1.

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Neurotensin (NT) is a gastro-intestinal hormone involved in several pathways that regulate energy and glucose homeostasis. NT was hypothesized to act in synergy with incretin hormones to potentiate its anti-diabetic effects. Additionally, circulating NT levels were shown to rise after bariatric surgery-induced weight loss.

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Given the common anatomical features and similar short-term weight loss outcomes, Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch (BPD/DS) and Single-Anastomosis Duodenoileal bypass with Sleeve gastrectomy (SADI-S) are considered identical bariatric procedures, apart from technical complexity being lower for SADI-S. In the absence of prospective randomized trials or long-term comparative studies the rationale for choosing between procedures is hampered. Post-bariatric hormonal profiles could contribute to understand the underlying mechanisms and potentially be used as a decision aid when choosing between procedures.

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Obesity is associated with complex adipose tissue energy metabolism remodeling. Whether AT metabolic reprogramming differs according to body mass index (BMI) and across different obesity classes is unknown. This study’s purpose was to evaluate and compare bioenergetics and energy substrate preference of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) pertaining to individuals with obesity class 2 and class 3.

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Metabolic syndrome (MS) is recognized as a risk factor for colon cancer (CC). However, how does the interplay between metabolic dysfunction caused by MS and its individual components affect CC microenvironment and prognosis remains unexplored. Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are fundamental processes for tumor progression and dissemination, ensuring oxygen and nutrient delivery and supporting one of the most important pathways of tumor dissemination, contributing to metastasis.

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Adrenal masses are one of the most common tumors in humans. The majority are benign and non-functioning and therefore do not require immediate treatment. In contrast, the rare adrenal malignant tumors are often highly aggressive and with poor prognosis.

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The differential diagnosis between adrenocortical adenomas (ACAs) and adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) relies on unspecific clinical, imaging and histological features, and, so far, no single molecular biomarker has proved to improve diagnostic accuracy. Similarly, prognostic factors have an insufficient capacity to predict the heterogeneity of ACC clinical outcomes, which consequently lead to inadequate treatment strategies. Angiogenesis is a biological process regulated by multiple signaling pathways, including VEGF and the Ang-Tie pathway.

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Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19 presents a complex set of symptoms affecting multiple body systems, which can be worsened by pre-existing conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, creating a global health crisis known as a syndemic.
  • Researchers propose that serotonin might play a crucial role in linking the various body system responses to severe COVID-19, particularly in individuals with existing health issues.
  • The study encourages further research into the relationship between serotonin and COVID-19 outcomes, drawing parallels with symptoms seen in other related medical conditions, to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the disease.
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Metabolomics emerged as an important tool to gain insights on how the body responds to therapeutic interventions. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for severe obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities. Our aim was to conduct a systematic review of the available data on metabolomics profiles that characterize patients submitted to different bariatric surgery procedures, which could be useful to predict clinical outcomes including weight loss and type 2 diabetes remission.

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Recent focus has been given on the effects of high-intensity infrasound (HII) exposure, and whether it induces changes in pancreatic morphology and glucose metabolism is still unknown. As such, we have studied the impact of HII exposure on glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, pancreatic islet morphology, muscle GLUT4 and plasma insulin and corticosterone levels. Normal and glucose intolerant wild-type Wistar rats were randomly divided in two groups: one group not exposed to HII and the other continuously exposed to HII.

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Bariatric surgery is a very effective treatment for obesity-associated type 2 diabetes. However, the benefits of bariatric surgery in patients with obesity and autoimmune diabetes, such as type 1 diabetes and latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), are controversial. We report 3 female patients with obesity and LADA who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass >10 years ago.

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Visceral obesity and systemic inflammatory response (SIR) were suggested to be closely related to colon cancer (CC) oncological and surgical outcomes. The first by producing several soluble factors involved in carcinogenesis and the second for having a key role in the nutritional and functional decline of patients with cancer. Furthermore, gender differences in relative body composition and adipose tissue regional distribution have also been acknowledged to influence CC.

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Purpose: The rate of weight regain after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) can hamper the procedure long-term efficacy for obesity treatment and related comorbidities. To evaluate the rate of weight loss and comorbidity remission failure 10 years or more after RYGB surgery.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective observational cohort study.

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Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) are a class of anti-hypertensive drugs that act by blocking aldosterone action. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the MRAs spironolactone and eplerenone influence adrenal cortical physiology and morphology. Spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR, = 18) and normotensive rats (WKY, = 18) were randomly exposed to a daily dose of spironolactone ( = 6), eplerenone ( = 6), or no drug ( = 6) over 28 days.

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Introduction: Benefits of regular physical exercise were demonstrated as preventive and coadjuvant nonpharmacological anticancer therapy. However, the role of exercise in modulating prostate cancer behavior has yet to be established.

Methods: Prostate tumors were induced in C57BL/6 male mice (n = 28) by subcutaneous inoculation of a suspension of murine androgen-independent RM1 cells (1.

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