Food Toxicology

Code:

CN31002

Acronym:

TOXICA

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Health Sciences
OFICIAL	Natural Sciences

Instance: 2013/2014 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Nutrition Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
CNUP	96	Plano oficial	3	-	6,5	70	175,5

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Toxicology has been defined as the study of the adverse effects of xenobiotics in living organisms and evaluate the probability of it's occurence. Mostly, those substances exists in nature, and, from ancient times, the human being discovered the possibility of using animal or vegetabel extracts as poisons, for hunting or as a war weapon. In this perspective toxicology is an ancestral knowledge. As a modern experimental science, toxicology is sister of Pharmacology, with evident overlaps. “ All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy.” (Paracelsus, 1493-1541). When the focus is the toxicological effects of pharmaceuticals, Toxicology is also related with Pharmacology. On the other side Toxicology share with Pharmacology most of the methodologies e as Pharmacology contributes to Physiology. However the scope of Toxicology is progressively enlarging  in industrialized societies, and importantly contibutes to the kowledge about the consequences and mechanisms of action of chemical agents present in the environment, air, water and foods. Today, toxicologists have a special role in the regulamentation of the use of chemical substances in order to preserve the environment and human health.

Food Toxicology constitutes a subspeciality of Toxicology with an enormous relevance to human health. On one hand, food is essential to life. On the other side, because foods are complex matrices they have natural components with antinutritional and/or toxicological characteristics and anthropogenic xenobiotics resulting from processing or from environmental or contaminations. Food complexity and variability confer an aditional dificulty to this science. Interactions xenebiotic-xenobiotic, xenobiotic-drug and xenobiotic-nutrient (food) are topics of particular interest in food tocxicology

Learning outcomes and competences

Students with positive evaluation in Food Toxicology will be able to:

1. show fundamental knowledge about processes and targets associated with exposure to toxic agents from the human food chain;

2. show fundamental knowledge about chemical food safety and risk assessment related to  toxic agents from the human food chain;

3. show skills in the analysis of toxic chemical compounds in food matrices and in the comunication of the results;

4. show skills in the in vitro toxicity evaluation of chemical compounds and in the the comunication of the results.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Theoretical program

o Basic principles of toxicology: history, generel mechanisms of toxicity, risk assessment

o xenobiotics absorption; transmenbranar transport mechanisms

o xenobiotics distribution in the organism

o Excretion and reabsorption of xenobiotics

o Transmembranar transport of endo and exo-xenobiotics

o Biotransformation of xenobiotics: Phase I, II and III

o Carcinogenesis (genomic and non-genomic). Food mutagens 

o Food xenobiotics: 
(i) from matrix food
(ii) from exogenous synthesis
(iii) from environmental contamination
(iv) formed during the food processing (culinary)


Lab program
(i) Methods in toxicology. Basics of lab work in toxicology science. Xenobiotic quantification in foods.
(ii) Toxicological assays: cellular death and proliferation evaluation

Mandatory literature

Shibamoto Takayuki; Introduction to food toxicology. ISBN: 978-0-12-374286-5
Klaassen Curtis D. 340; Casarett and Doullc2b4s toxicology. ISBN: 0-07-134721-6

Teaching methods and learning activities

Education shall be provided at five hours per week per student during the semester in the form of lectures and laboratory classes.
The lectures will be two a week, with a duration of 60 minutes and laboratory classes a week, lasting three hours.

Theoretical classes will be made introductions to the various themes of the program, showed the theoretical and practical affairs, equated their problems highlighted their most controversial aspects, obscure or difficult and suggested clues to their study.

In lab classes will be given the opportunity to conduct a research project whose main objective is to develop the implementation capacity of some laboratory techniques, processing of results and critical discussion of the results.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	70,00
Participação presencial	10,00
Trabalho escrito	10,00
Trabalho laboratorial	10,00
Total:	100,00

Calculation formula of final grade

(i) exam: 70% (of final grade)

(ii) CONTINUOUS EVALUATION INTEGRATION (AC: 30% of final grade)

To the continuous evaluation, from the laboratorial classes, it will be added the evaluation of the reports of the practical works and a scientific abstract related to an actual/advanced topic in food toxicology. 

The final grade will be calculated according the following formula

FC = (EXAM x 0,7) + (AC x 0,3)

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

For students with the status of student worker, without attendance to lab classes, the countinuous evaluation component will be substituted by a research work on a topic related to Fod Toxicology, to define with the faculty (20% of the final grade) 

Observations

Opening hours: 
friday 14h00 to 15h00 
wednesday das 16h00 to 17h00

(previous appointment is necessary)