About
386
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1,556
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
January 1980 - December 2013
November 1974 - present
Position
- Professor (Full)
Description
- Genetic Epidemiology and Mecanisms of Complex Diseases mainly cardiovascular and neoplasia
Publications
Publications (386)
(1) Background: Refugees are a population group at imminent risk of death, being forced to migrate to countries with different cultures. Many of the refugees are at great risk of malnutrition, especially adolescent orphans. The aim of the study was to establish a nutritional and food education program to improve the integration process of young orp...
Host regulatory immune response is involved in the hepatic inflammatory process caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). We aimed to determine if HCV clearance with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) changes the hepatic fibrosis stage, biochemical parameters of liver injury, and inflammatory/immune responses. Sample: 329 chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patien...
Purpose: To evaluate haematological parameters as possible biomarkers of the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).
Methods: Multicenter, observational, and prospective study of preterm infants (PTI) from eight NICU, born in Portugal with gestational age (GA) < 32 weeks or birth weight (BW) <1500 g. ROP staging performed according to the...
Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) progression is highly variable and can be influenced by lipid metabolism. The ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) is involved in lipid metabolism and mediates cholesterol efflux from liver cells. ABCA1 gene polymorphism rs2230808 (R1587K) modulates lipid levels as it is located in an ABCA1 protein domain, which is...
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disorder of the retina and a leading cause of visual impairment and childhood blindness worldwide. The disease is characterized by an early stage of retinal microvascular degeneration, followed by neovascularization that can lead to subsequent retinal detachment and permanent visual loss. Seve...
Background
Mechanistic studies show that heavy metals interfere with the hematopoietic system by inhibiting key enzymes, which could lead to anemia. However, the link between children's exposure and red blood cell (RBC) parameters has been inconsistent. We aimed to summarize evidence on human studies exploring the association between exposure to le...
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a retinal vasoproliferative disorder that represents an important cause of childhood visual impairment and blindness. Although oxidative stress has long been implicated in ROP etiology, other prenatal and perinatal factors are also involved. This review focuses on current research involving inflammation and genet...
Objective:
Preeclampsia (PE), a pregnancy complication triggered by oxidative stress and hypoxia, compromises mother and baby health and changes mother's blood vessels increasing the risk for hypertension(HT). Aquaporin-3 (AQP3) is a water/H2O2/glycerol channel with implications in redox signaling. Heparanase (HPSE) has a role in extracellular mat...
Objective:
Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease(ADPKD) is a monogenic disease characterized by the growth of cysts in the kidneys, which can progress to end-stage renal disease(ESRD). However, this progression is heterogeneous.Aquaporin-3(AQP3) and Aquaporin-7(AQP7) are water channels involved in the inflammatory response and proliferation...
Objective:
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease charactered by abnormal proliferation of keratinocytes and infiltration of immune cells and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) is a clinical tool used to assess the severity of psoriasis. Circulating biomarkers, such as those of complete...
Objective:
Apparently healthy young adults may have risk factors associated with arterial hypertension (HBP) and atherosclerosis. The objective was to evaluate the presence of HBP, obesity and other anthropometric or metabolic cardiovascular (CV) risk parameters in young adults and their association to inflammation connected blood count parameters...
Objective:
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with cardiovascular risk factors. Aquaporins(AQP) are a family of channels, which can transport: water, urea, hydrogen peroxide and/or glycerol, essential for redox signalling and metabolic skin homeostasis.Heparanase(HPSE) is an endo--glucuronidase that cleaves heparan sulfate cha...
Funding Acknowledgements
Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): FCT, Portugal
Systemic inflammatory parameters derived from complete blood count (CBC) might present a good potential and a cheap method in assessment the risk for the development of cardiovascular related diseases.
The aim of this research is to retrospectively e...
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a hereditary disease characterized by the formation and growth of renal cysts, affecting the decrease of renal function, which may lead to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Due to the enormous intrafamilial phenotypic variability of ADPKD and since serum creatinine and glomer...
Introdução: Os adultos jovens presumivelmente saudáveis podem, contudo, apresentar importantes fatores de risco, potencialmente refletidos numa maior incidência de morbilidade futura e numa diminuição da sua qualidade de vida. A obesidade, em particular, tem sido associada a uma maior incidência de hipertensão arterial, observada de modo transversa...
Introdução: Os adultos jovens presumivelmente saudáveis podem, contudo, apresentar importantes fatores de risco, potencialmente refletidos numa maior incidência de morbilidade futura e numa diminuição da sua qualidade de vida. A obesidade, em particular, tem sido associada a uma maior incidência de hipertensão arterial, observada de modo transversa...
Psoriasis is a multifactorial disease, with many genetic risk factors, one of which seems to be the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism. ACE activity has been shown to be higher in psoriatic patients and it suggests an oxidative stress state, as seen in many cardiovascular disorders. We aimed to explore the ass...
Background:
Since the emergence of the genus Homo, hominids have occupied a wide variety of environments, facing different selective pressures.
Objectives:
The aim this study is to compare genotype frequencies between South-West Europe and Peri-equatorial Africa in genes potentially modulators of blood pressure.
Methods:
The analyzed sample co...
Arginine availability and activation of arginine-related pathways at cancer sites have profound effects on the tumor microenvironment, far beyond their well-known role in the hepatic urea cycle. Arginine metabolism impacts not only malignant cells but also the surrounding immune cells behavior, modulating growth, survival, and immunosurveillance me...
Abstract
Aims
Heart failure (HF) short-term prognosis persists poor.
We studied the rate of short-term readmission due to HF, short-term all-cause mortality and end of follow-up all-cause mortality.
Material and Methods
We assessed patients admitted with acute HF in class III or IV of NYHA.
Univariate Cox proportional hazard model was performed....
The extracellular matrix (ECM) is the non-cellular component of the tissues of our organism. It is the dynamic element that maintains a biochemical structure capable of supporting the organization and architecture of the tissue constituents. The diversity of ECM’s constituents gives it the biochemical and biophysical properties necessary to regulat...
Preeclampsia (PE), a pregnancy disorder influenced by oxidative stress and hypoxia, affects the health of the mother and baby and is associated with an increased risk of future hypertension (HT). Aquaporins are a family of water channels, comprising members that also transport glycerol (aquaglyceroporins) and hydrogen peroxide (peroxiporins), key m...
Hypertension is a multifactorial condition of genetic and environmental nature. In Portugal the mean prevalence of hypertension in the population is 45.5%. The aim of this study is to evaluate the contribution of anthropometric, physiological and genetic factors (eNOS and ACE) to the development of hypertension in a Portuguese population. A case-co...
The two antagonistic systems of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-1 and ACE-2 are in the “eye of the hurricane” of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The receptor of the SARS-CoV-2 is the same as ACE-2, which causes its under-expression after binding it, followed by the internalization of the complex virus-ACE-2. ACE-2 ha...
Background:
Exercise is a well-accepted strategy to improve lipid and inflammatory profile in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the exercise intensity having the most benefits on lipids and inflammatory markers in patients with T2DM remains unclear. We aimed to analyse the impact of a 1-year combined high-intensity interval trainin...
Background. Cardiovascular risk (CVR) underlies aging process and longevity. Previous work points to genetic and environmental factors associated with this risk. Objectives. The aim of this research is to look for any CVR gene-gene and gene-multifactorial/lifestyle interactions that may impact health and disease and underlie exceptional longevity....
Background: Exercise is a well-accepted strategy to improve lipid and inflammatory profile in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the exercise intensity having the most benefits on lipids and inflammatory markers in patients with T2DM remains unclear. We aimed to analyse the impact of a 1-year combined high-intensity interval training...
Background: Exercise is a well-accepted strategy to improve lipid and inflammatory profile in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the exercise intensity having the most benefits on lipids and inflammatory markers in patients with T2DM remains unclear. We aimed to analyse the impact of a 1-year combined high-intensity interval training...
Introduction: Obesity is considered one of the most serious public health problems today. It has been linked to increased consumption of sugar from food and in particular from sugary drinks. However, the contribution of its consumption to the increased prevalence of overweight in children is still controversial.
Гипертиреоз является фактором риска снижения минеральной плотности костной ткани (МПКТ) и возникновения остеопоротических переломов. Оценка вертебральных переломов (ОВП) помогает диагностировать вертебральный перелом, а показатель качества трабекулярной костной ткани (ТКТ) — оценить костную микроархитектуру. Мы поставили себе цель оценить влияние г...
Environmental health is at the intersection between health and the environment. However, it still has a recent (and narrow) history as a scientific area, mainly addressing human biomonitoring and toxicological issues. Only recently additional environmental 'layers', other than the traditional chemical, biological and physical environmental determin...
Background: A single method is not suitable for obesity and body fat evaluation in type 2 diabetic patients. An observational analytical case control study was performed in Caucasian type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic subjects to compare body fatness, obesity prevalence and to evaluate type 2 diabetes (DT2) and angiopathy contribution to obesity prev...
Background
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known to infect the brain, however, the findings based on associated neuropsychiatric syndrome are controversial and the association itself remains unclear. Gender research in HCV infection is limited, failing to integrate the role of gender differences in neurocognitive syndrome. The aim of this study was...
Objective: Preeclampsia (PE) is a major public health issue, increasing the risk
for future cardiovascular disease. The polymorphisms NOS3-intron16, MPOrs2333227, p22phox-rs4673, and CAT-rs1001179 are involved in the production
of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and dismutation of hydrogen
peroxide. The aim is to study the associatio...
Hypertension (HT), a common age-related disorder, is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This study aims to identify the prevalence of HT in Portuguese centenarians and evaluate whether gene polymorphisms encoding key molecules in blood pressure (BP) regulation are associated with longevity. There were recruited 253 centenarians (1...
BACKGROUND The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known to infect the brain, however findings on associated neuropsychiatric syndrome are controversial and the association itself remains unclear. Gender research in HCV infection is limited, failing to integrate the role of gender in neurocognitive syndrome. This study aimed to characterize psychological an...
Abstract Background Exercise, when performed on a regular basis, is a well-accepted strategy to improve vascular function in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, the exercise intensity that yields maximal adaptations on structural and functional indices in patients with type 2 diabetes remains uncertain. Our objective was to analyze the impact o...
Obesity among children has emerged as a serious public health problem. The growing prevalence of childhood obesity has led to the appearance of serious complications, including a chronic systemic inflammation associated with oxidative stress. In the present study, we analysed the interaction between two genes related with iron metabolism - HFE and...
Obesity among children has emerged as a serious public health problem. The growing prevalence of childhood obesity has led to the appearance of serious complications, including a chronic systemic inflammation associated with oxidative stress. In the present study, we analysed the interaction between two genes related with iron metabolism - HFE and...
Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection involves changes not only from the point of view of physical health, but also emotional, and social that have a significant impact on the quality of life of these patients. According to the literature review, it seems that there is an important association between psychosocial factors, in particular on...
Aims: Exercise is associated with accelerated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and stimulation of the antioxidant defences (AD). In high intensity exercise ROS production may overwhelm the AD and induce adverse effects on health and performance. We aim to investigate the redox balance of adult-competitive swimmers against recreational exerc...
Aims:
To evaluate the impact of 1-year high intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with resistance training (RT) vs. continuous moderate intensity training (MCT) combined with RT on glycemic control, body composition, and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Materials and methods:
A randomized controlled trial e...
Introduction
Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystemic disorder which complex pathophysiology involves both oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction as key factors. The CD163-mediated haptoglobin (HP) hemoglobin-scavenging system has been proposed as an important pathway for diverse disease states due to its anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic effe...
Introduction
The immunological alterations during pregnancy may contribute to the onset of preeclampsia (PE) and will affect the future cardiovascular risk (FC-risk) in women with previous PE.
Objectives/Hypothesis
Although not clear, beyond being involved in the metabolism of estrogens, CYP1A1 and COMT polymorphisms may have a significant impact...
Type 2 diabetes mellitus has been associated with excessive production of reactive oxygen species [1]. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) polymorphisms result in decreased or absent enzyme activity and altered oxidative stress. Meta-analyses have indicated that deletion of either GSTM1 or GSTT1 is associated with a significant increased risk of corona...
Introduction: The interaction between bone and energy metabolism may be enhanced in high demanding physical activities. We hypothesize that genetic background may modulate the exercise-associated bone and energy responses of athletes participating in a mountain cycling ultramarathon.
Methods: Fifty-five non-professional athletes (mean age 44.8±7.1...
Introduction
Medicinal plants traditional consumption habits, can contribute to longevity.
Methods
A sample of 253 centenarian individuals in Portugal, both sexes, median age100 years, was studied, to verify past habits in relation to medicinal-interest plants use. It was compared with a control group median age 67 year, with a reduced theoretical...