Folic acid and breast cancer risk

Impact of home-based aerobic training combined with food orientation on food consumption, daily physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness among breast cancer survivors: six-month clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Anticancer treatment gives rise to adverse effects such as increased pain and changes to body weight and menstrual cycles, with negative effects on activities of daily living.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the effect of food orientation combined with supervised (face-to-face, FF) versus home-based (HB) aerobic training on lifestyle (food consumption and daily physical activity (PA) levels), body composition, metabolic profile and cardiorespiratory fitness, among breast cancer survivors.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Clinical trial study (six months) conducted at a public university in Presidente Prudente, Brazil.

METHODS

Twenty-three female breast cancer survivors (40-75 years old) were allocated to aerobic training groups, either FF or HB. Both groups were trained and received food orientation. They were evaluated through a dietary record, ergometric treadmill test and blood test and the Baecke questionnaire.

RESULTS

After six months, both groups had reduced their lipid levels, total energy consumption and polyunsaturated fat intake, and had increased their PA levels and treadmill test durations. However, only the HB showed reduced carbohydrate percentage and increased folic acid; and only the FF showed reduced lipid, saturated fat and sodium levels, along with increased carbohydrate and protein levels. No differences in body composition or metabolic profile were found.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrated the feasibility of HB aerobic training. In isolation, HB showed greater regulation of carbohydrate percentage and increased folic acid levels. Moreover, these breast cancer survivors presented improvements in food consumption, PA levels and cardiorespiratory fitness, while also maintaining their body composition and metabolic profile after the intervention, independent of the group.

An innovative bioanalytical research project course to train undergraduate students on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Active-learning strategies such as undergraduate research courses and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), which engage students in the practical experiments, have been reported as efficient ways for effective teaching and training of graduating students. Recently, many practical examples have been published in various fields to develop critical skills needed by undergraduate students for graduate school or the workforce; however, very few examples have been published for bioanalytical topics, specifically, Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). Herein, we describe an innovative undergraduate research course that was used to train well-prepared graduating seniors on LC-MS-MS and in developing a sensitive method for detecting vitamin B9 (folic acid) levels in different milk samples. During this semester-long exercise, the students were exposed to literature review, basic UV-Vis spectroscopy, and HPLC and LC-MS-MS techniques. Additionally, as part of this laboratory-based research course, they researched published approaches on analyzing folic acid in food samples and devised a method to extract and quantify folic acid levels in different brands of milk using LC-MS-MS instruments. Feedback from students and faculty members was very positive as the students felt that this opportunity helped them to become more comfortable using HPLC and LC-MS-MS instruments and felt empowered to answer real-life analytical problems. This laboratory-based undergraduate research course can also be modified and used as an advanced bioanalytical laboratory exercise in biochemistry or analytical chemistry courses. © 2019 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 47(3):228-238, 2019.