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Nutritional Ecology | Adaptive Behaviour | Food Intake and Perception |
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The Ingestive Behavior and Bioregulation Research Group (IBB) is dedicated to advancing our understanding of biological processes of food and fluid intake, with consequences on health and disease, combining physiological, morphological, and behavioral data at molecular, cellular and organismal levels. The main research topics of the group are:
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Grazing ecology To understand how animal behave and interact with their environments it is important to understand feeding dynamics that determine their use of food resources. Besides measuring grazing food consumption using n-alkanes we analyze in fine detail the individual components of ingestive behavior and their adaptation to preferred and aversive basic tastes, or to plant secondary metabolites in order to understand the dynamics of taste perception that allow animals to adapt to changing nutritional environments. |
Taste and metabolic disorders Metabolic disorders have great impact in human’s health and wellbeing. We are using animal models and are aimed in understanding the changes in oral food perception induced by metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes. We are studying the food intake regulation, and how taste and salivary physiology are involved in it. The role of adiposity and appetite/satiety signals in gustatory and salivary functions modulation is being investigated. |
Early nutritional experience Feeding behaviour involves affective and cognitive processes, and taste plays a proeminent role in both processes. Affective processes integrate the taste of food and its post-ingestive consequences, and changes in the intake of food item depend on whether the post-ingestive consequences are aversive or positive. Cognitive processes integrate the odour and sight of food, which precede consumption, with its taste. We are trying to understand how experience with a flavour in the context of nursing can alters food preferences. |
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Plant secondary metabolites Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) occur widely and can influence which plants and plant parts that are eaten. Plants have evolved a wide range of defenses. Distasteful tastes and sensations, as bitter and astringency, are currently associated with aversive feeding behavior. However some can have positive effects on metabolism of particular metabolic disorders. We are concerned with polyphenols and other plant extracts. |
Nutritional status Nutritonal status reflects how animal copes with variations in the supply of resources and with environmental challenges in their habitats. Variations in taste sensitivity could explain how animal adjust ingestive behaviour accordingly. Our approach is on the gene expression of bitter taste receptors because most plant secondary metabolites are bitter, and therefore aversive for animals. |
Approaches and Techniques Saliva composition | Milk composition | Serum biochemistry | Tongue, salivary glands and pancreas morphology | b cell culture | Food preference tests | Sensory analysis Proteomics | Light microscopy | Electronic microscopy (SEM and TEM)|Immunohistochemistry | Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) | SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis | Western blotting |Cromatography |
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Publications
- 2012 - Lamy E, Capela e Silva F, Ferreira A, Sales Baptista E. The Influence of oral environment on diet choices in goats: a focus on saliva protein composition. In: Garrote DE, Arede GJ (Eds). Goats: Habitat, Breeding and Management. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc; 2012. ISBN: 978-1-61942-932-1 Lamy E, Mau M. Saliva proteomics as an emerging, non-invasive tool to study livestock physiology, nutrition and diseases. Journal of Proteomics 2012; doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2012.05.007 Ramos A, Pereira A Cabrita AS, Capela e Silva F. Effects of the food contaminant semicarbazide on testicular morphology of juvenile Wistar rats. Arq Bras Med Vet Zootec 2012; 64: 781-785. Ramos A, Pereira A Cabrita AS, Capela e Silva F. Efeitos da semicarbazida no esqueleto de ratos Wistar em crescimento. Arq Bras Med Vet Zootec 2012; 64: 499-504.
- 2011 - Lamy E, da Costa G, Santos R, Capela e Silva F, Potes J, Pereira A, Coelho AV, Sales Baptista E. Effect of condensed tannin ingestion in sheep and goat parotid saliva proteome. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 2011; 95: 304-312. Lamy E, Rawel H, Schweigert FJ, Capela e Silva F, Ferreira A, Rodrigues Costa A, Antunes CM, Almeida AM, Coelho AV, Baptista ES. The effect of tannins on Mediterranean ruminant ingestive behavior: the role of the oral cavity. Molecules 2011; 16: 2766-2784. - 2010 - Costa AR, Real J, Antunes CM, Cruz-Morais J. A new approach for determination of Na,K-ATPase activity in intact pancreatic b-cells. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-An 2010; 46: 7-10. Lamy E, Baptista E, Coelho AV, Capela e Silva F. Morphological alterations in salivary glands of mice (Mus musculus) submitted to tannin enriched diets: comparison with sialotrophic effects of sympathetic agonists stimulation. Arq Bras Med Vet Zootec 2010; 62: 837-844. Lamy E, Graça G, da Costa G, Franco C, Capela e Silva F, Baptista ES, Coelho AV. Changes in mice whole saliva soluble proteome induced by tannin-enriched diets. Proteome Science [doi:10.1186/1477-5956-8-65] Saraiva D, Castilho MC, Martins MR, Noronha da Silveira MI, Ramos F. Evaluation of phytosterols in milk and yogurts used as functional foods in Portugal. Food Anal Methods 2010; doi: 10.1007/s12161-010-9131-y. - 2009 - Baptista ES, Lamy E, Mau M, Capela e Silva F, Coelho AV. Variation in salivary protein composition related to feeding behavior and its ecological implications.In: Zhang W, Liu H, editors. Behavioral and Chemical Ecology. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc; 2009. p.115-136. Lamy E, da Costa G, Santos R, Capela e Silva F, Potes J, Pereira A, Coelho AV, Sales Baptista E. Sheep and goat saliva proteome analysis: A useful tool for ingestive behavior research? Physiology & Behavior 2009; 98: 393-401. - 2008 - da Costa G, Lamy E, Capela e Silva F, Andersen J, Sales Baptista E, Coelho AV. Salivary amylase induction by tannin-enriched diets as a possible countermeasure against tannins. J Chem Ecol 2008; 34: 376-387. Lamy E, da Costa G, Capela e Silva F, Potes JC, Coelho AV, Baptista ES. Comparison of electrophoretic protein profiles from sheep and goat parotid saliva. J Chem Ecology 2008; 34: 388-397. - 2007 - Lamy E, Capela e Silva F, Baptista ES, Graça G, Costa G, Coelho AV. Utilização da proteómica para compreender o comportamento de ingestão. Revista de Ciências Agrárias 2007; 30: 367-374. Mendes C, Ferraz-de-Oliveira MI, Ribeiro T, d’Abreu MC. Estimativa da ingestão e digestibilidade de erva e bolota em porcos alentejanos pela técnica dos n-alcanos. Revista de Ciências Agrárias 2007; 30: 350-357. Pinheiro C, Machado G, Bettencourt C, Matos C. Avaliação sensorial do queijo: Definição dos atributos de qualidade. Revista de Ciências Agrárias 2007; 30: 198-204. Ribeiro T, Ferraz-de-Oliveira MI, Mendes C, d’Abreu MC. Estudo para a validação da técnica dos n-alcanos para estimativa da ingestão e da digestibilidade em porcos Alentejanos. Revista de Ciências Agrárias 2007; 30: 296-302. Tinoco MT, Martins MR, Cruz-Morais J. Actividade antimicrobiana do óleo essencial do Foeniculum vulgare Miller. Revista de Ciências Agrárias 2007; 30: 448-454. |
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Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas (ICAAM), Universidade de Évora, 7002-552 Évora, Portugal
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