Cristina Juan

Biomonitoring is a valuable tool for assessing exposure to toxicants and understanding their potential impact on human and animal health

This study aimed to evaluate the genotoxic effects of food contaminants exposure in human neuroblastoma SH‐SY5Y cells using the micronucleus (MN) assay and Ames test. Acrylamide (AA), penitrem A (PEN A), and 3‐acetyldeoxynivalenol (3‐ADON) were tested both individually and in combination. Since humans are likely to be exposed to these substances simultaneously through diet, it is crucial to investigate their combined effects of the compounds rather than just their individual toxicities. The results demonstrated significant increases in MN frequency for all individual treatments and in a dose‐dependent manner for AA and 3‐ADON. Combined treatments also resulted in higher MN frequencies, particularly for AA + 3‐ADON and PEN A + 3‐ADON respect to the control. However, the Ames test revealed no mutagenic potential for any of the individual or combined treatments, consistent with previous studies. These findings suggest that while food contaminants induce chromosomal damage (MN induction), they do not cause gene mutations. Nonetheless, the lack of single mutations activity does not exclude the potential health risks of combined mycotoxin exposure, especially given the observed genotoxicity due to the DNA damage through chromosomal aberrations. Future studies focused on the mechanism of action should investigate the combined effects of food contaminants in more detail to better assess their potential health risks.

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds found in food and feed that pose significant risks to human and animal health. This work reviews recent studies on the cytotoxic effects of four mycotoxins: beauvericin (BEA), citrinin (CTN), moniliformin (MON), and patulin (PAT) in various cell lines. Additionally, an experimental study evaluates the effects of these mycotoxins and their binary combinations on human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) after 24 and 48 h of exposure using the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay. This analysis is driven by the additional risks posed by the frequent occurrence of these combinations in agricultural and food products, as well as the lack of studies addressing their effects, interactions, and regulatory frameworks. This research focuses on comparing the cytotoxicity data obtained in the SH-SY5Y cell line with previously reported findings in the literature for other cell lines exposed to BEA, CTN, MON, and PAT, individually and in binary combination. The literature highlights significant scientific interest in understanding the cytotoxic effects of these mycotoxins, with findings varying based on exposure time and concentration. Experimentally, PAT demonstrated the highest toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells, while MON was the least toxic. Among combinations, BEA + MON and CTN + PAT showed the greatest reduction in cell viability. However, medium inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values were not reached for most combinations involving MON, reflecting its lower potency under the studied conditions. These findings underscore the importance of further investigation and enhanced regulations to address the health risks posed by mycotoxins, as their cytotoxic effects remain a pressing issue in food safety.

Book that collects scientific contributions on food safety, innovation, sustainability and entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector at international level. This book has a formative and informative perspective that is very useful in tasks such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). The works collected were presented at the International Congress "Looking into FoodSafety, Innovation, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship - MindInnFood '24" held in October 2024. It has the participation of companies committed to food innovation such as VickyFoods, Familia Martínez, Agilent and KMZERO Hub, and also with national research centers and national universities (University of Córdoba, University of Zaragoza, University of Valencia, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Food Safety Research Area of FISABIO-Public Health of Valencia), as well as international (Institute of Food Science and Technology of Entre Ríos-Argentina, University of Cartagena-Colombia, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn-Poland, University of Camerino-Italy, University of Naples "Federico II"-Italy, University of Coimbra-Portugal, University of Turku-Finland, Harvard University-Cambridge-USA, Chouaib Doukkali University-Morocco, University of Antwerp- Belgium, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca-Romania). It includes the entrepreneurship, COIL activities and projects that have been carried out in 2024 on food safety at the University of Valencia.

Los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) sientan las bases para la aplicación de prácticas sostenibles en vistas a alcanzar una mejora de la salud y el bienestar, así como para la protección del medio ambiente. Con esta actividad se pretende introducir a los estudiantes los diferentes ODS y fomentar la participación de éstos en la construcción de un futuro más sostenible a partir de la aportación de ideas y acciones de consumo responsables, la economía circular, y la mejora de la seguridad alimentaria. Dicha actividad se desarrolló en diferentes sesiones de tutorías dentro de la asignatura de Nutrición del Doble Grado de Farmacia y Nutrición Humana y Dietética (Universidad de Valencia, UV). En primer lugar, se introdujeron los ODS y el ámbito donde se enmarcan, destacando su relación dentro del proyecto de investigación “AGROALNEXT-GVA EXTRAOLIOPRO: Desarrollo y optimización de procesos innovadores y sostenibles de extracción de aceite y proteínas a partir de microalgas, insectos, residuos y subproductos agroalimentarios: evaluación de propiedades biológicas”. Posteriormente, mediante el empleo de la herramienta Wooclap, los estudiantes respondieron a una serie de preguntas en línea relacionadas con ciertos objetivos y/o retos del citado proyecto, elegiendo el ODS con el cual estaba más relacionado y justificando la respuesta. Finalmente, los estudiantes propusieron una idea de un nuevo alimento, o posibles acciones a llevar a cabo en la industria alimentaria para dar respuesta a los ODS. Los resultados obtenidos tras la actividad mostraron que la mayoría de los estudiantes (67%) fueron capaces de entender bien el proyecto de investigación AGROALNEXT-GVA EXTRAOLIOPRO, identificando correctamente qué ODS estaba involucrado en los retos y/o objetivos presentados. Así mismo, los alumnos mostraron motivación, alta predisposición, y una gran creatividad a la hora de proponer sus propias ideas para contribuir a alcanzar alguno de los ODS, centrándose principalmente en aquellos más relacionados con la asignatura: “Hambre cero” (ODS 2), “Industria, innovación e infraestructura” (ODS 9), “Producción y consumo responsables” (ODS 12) y “Vida de ecosistemas terrestres” (ODS 15).

El estudiante del Grado de Nutrición Humana y Dietética (NHyD) a lo largo del grado adquiere conocimientos teóricos y desarrolla capacidades de análisis crítico y habilidades analíticas en muchas de las asignaturas. Durante su formación académica elabora diferentes trabajos y memorias a partir de información bibliográfica, una realidad en convivencia con la incorporación de la inteligencia artificial en el contexto de la enseñanza. Si bien la inteligencia artificial se está empleando a muchos niveles permitiendo en educación desarrollar prácticas de enseñanza y aprendizaje innovadores, y acelerar el progreso de aprendizaje; no hay que olvidar que estos avances tecnológicos dan rapidez, pero implican inevitablemente numerosos riesgos y retos, que los marcos reglamentarios y normativos tendrán que afrontar. Saber manejarlos de forma segura y contrastada, y además de mostrar su aplicación en posibles opciones o usos científicos, humanos y medioambientales, debe ser uno de los compromisos educativos para poder trabajar de forma segura. Desde este proyecto* planteamos trabajar los conocimientos teóricos a través del análisis crítico y contrastado de noticias o fake news o creencias que circulan en redes sociales, para ello el estudiante debe buscar información contrastada y tratar de discutir, debatir y justificar desde un punto de vista teórico esa noticia, para ello pueden utilizar bases de datos plataformas y herramientas informáticas, basadas todas ellas en inteligencia artificial para elaborar sus informes. Una actividad que se podrá elaborar a lo largo del curso en varias ocasiones para que todos los estudiantes participen y tratar diferentes temas del programa docente como una clase invertida. Se elaborará un calendario de actividades a lo largo del curso a partir de la propuesta que hagan los estudiantes, para fijar así qué temas del programa docente se trabajaran. Los estudiantes se dividirán en grupos de trabajo entre 5-4 estudiantes. Con ello queremos que los estudiantes valoren y den importancia a la formación que reciben y adquieran habilidades comunicativas y vías de información fiables.

Thermal processes induce the formation of undesired toxic components, such as acrylamide (AA), which has been shown to induce brain toxicity in humans and classified as Group 2A by the International Agency of Research in Cancer (IARC), as well as some mycotoxins. AA and mycotoxins’ toxicity is studied in several in vitro models, including the neuroblastoma cell line model SH-SY5Y cells. Both AA and mycotoxins occur together in the same food matrix cereal base (bread, pasta, potatoes, coffee roasting, etc.). Therefore, the goal of this review is to deepen the knowledge about the neurological effects that AA and mycotoxins can induce on the in vitro model SH-SY5Y and its mechanism of action (MoA) focusing on the experimental assays reported in publications of the last 10 years. The analysis of the latest publications shows that most of them are focused on cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and alteration in protein expression, while others are interested in oxidative stress, axonopathy, and the disruption of neurite outgrowth. While both AA and mycotoxins have been studied in SH-SY5Y cells separately, the mixture of them is starting to draw the interest of the scientific community. This highlights a new and interesting field to explore due to the findings reported in several publications that can be compared and the implications in human health that both could cause. In relation to the assays used, the most employed were the MTT, axonopathy, and qPCR assays. The concentration dose range studied was 0.1–10 mM for AA and 2 fM to 200 µM depending on the toxicity and time of exposure for mycotoxins. A healthy and varied diet allows the incorporation of a large family of bioactive compounds that can mitigate the toxic effects associated with contaminants present in food. Although this has been reported in some publications for mycotoxins, there is still a big gap for AA which evidences that more investigations are needed to better explore the risks for human health when exposed to AA and mycotoxins.