APPLIED BIOCHEMISTRY

FIRST PART: NUTRITIONAL BIOCHEMISTRY
• Nutritional Biochemistry: introduction and general aspects.
• The physiology of the gastrointestinal tract, a biochemical overview.
• Calories, Energy Balance, Calorie Requirements, RDA
• Transmembrane transport, general aspects; Transporters, channels, pumps. Biochemical bases of endocytosis; clatrine.
• Enzymes involved in digestion: general aspects. Catalytic mechanisms of hydrolysis.
• Digestion and absorption of carbohydrates: aspects of carbohydrate structure, digestion, absorption, metabolic fate; Hormone regulation of blood glucose, diabetes, biochemical markers of diabetes.
• Digestion and lipid absorption: the structure of food lipids; digestion, absorption and metabolic fate; Essential fatty acids; hyperlipidemia
• Digestion and protein absorption: protein structure, essential amino acids; digestion; pathologies associated with the malabsorption of amino acids.
• Absorption of ethanol.
• Minerals: Absorption, transport and biochemical role of calcium, iron, copper, sodium, potassium, chlorides, iodides.
• Vitamins: classification and general aspects. Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B3, Vitamin C, Vitamin A: Transport, Distribution, Biochemical Role, Deficiencies.

SECOND PART: CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY
Clinical biochemistry: definition
Analysis of biological samples
• The biological samples
• Analytes
• Values
• Measuring units
• Reference values
Clinical biochemistry in the main metabolic dysfunctions:
• Glucose metabolism
• Lipid metabolism
Clinical biochemistry in the major organ dysfunctions:
• kidney dysfunctions and diseases
• heart dysfunctions and diseases
• liver dysfunctions and diseases
• blood dysfunctions and diseases
• Tumor markers
• Inflammation markers

The main techniques used in the detection of biochemical analytes will be briefly discussed