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Clinical Biochemistry

Code 13544
Year 3
Semester S1
ECTS Credits 6
Workload PL(15H)/T(30H)/TP(15H)
Scientific area Biomedical Sciences
Entry requirements Frequency of Curricular Unities of Basic Biochemistry and Physiology
Mode of delivery Face-to-face
Work placements N/A
Learning outcomes To rationally develop the natural abilities of the student. The lectures are integrated with practical and/or theoretical-practical classes in order to become participatory classes and allowing to transmit the knowledge in a integrated and non dispersible form, where students build and correlate different facts by discussing issues and practical problems. This course, in which the principles of Biochemistry and Physiology are applied to the understanding of human disease, requires the use of acquired knowledge that was taught in past UCs, reinforcing their use. The fundamental objectives of Clinical Biochemistry should include:
• Apply knowledge of basic biochemistry in understanding the disease and problem solving;
• Acquire knowledge about the biochemical changes in disease;
• Acquaint the student with the biochemical parameters most commonly determined in the Clinical Chemistry laboratory routine.
Syllabus Theoretical
1. Concept of Clinical Biochemistry
2. Analyses in Clinical Chemistry and Quality
2.1 Types of analysis and biological samples
2.2 Analytical errors. Importance of Quality Control in different laboratory stages
3. Biological fluids (BF)
3.1 Differences in chemical composition
3.2 Special Extravascular BF
4. Biochemical mechanisms and Laboratory parameters involved in the diagnosis of changes in:
4.1 Renal Function
4.2 Fluid and Electrolyte balance and Acid-base
4.3 Carbohydrate Metabolism
4.4 Lipid Metabolism
4.5 Liver Function
4.6 Proteins/Enzymes

Practical and theoretical-practical
-Measurement of laboratory parameters (manually and/or automatically) in the Clinical Chemistry laboratory.
-Presentation and discussion of biochemical parameters, linking concepts and results, in the form of clinical-laboratory cases.
Main Bibliography • Clinical Chemistry: Theory, Analysis, Correlation (5th edition), Lawrence A. Kaplan, Amadeo J. Pesce, Eds. Mosby. 2009.
• Textbook of Biochemistry, with Clinical Correlations (7th edition), Thomas M. Devlin, Ed. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. 2010.
• Clinical Chemistry. Principles, Procedures, Correlations (8th edition), Michael L. Bishop, Edward P. Fody and Larry Schoeff. Wolters Kluwer, 2017.
• Clinical Biochemistry: An Illustrated Colour Text (6th edition), Michael J. Murphy, Rajeev Srivastava, Kevin Deans. Elsevier, 2018.
• Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods (24th edition), Richard A. McPherson, Matthew R. Pincus. Elsevier, 2021.
Teaching Methodologies and Assessment Criteria Teaching-Learning Classification (CEA):
Final Grade (NF) = 60% Theoretical Assessment + 40% Practical Component
- The minimum CEA for passing the course: 10 points (after rounding).
- This final grade formula applies to midterms and exams.
To pass the course: passing the practical component is required (grade equal to or higher than 9.5 points).
The Theoretical Assessment (60% of the NF) will be conducted through one overall midterm (50%; no minimum gtade; ) + 10% average of three mini-tests (no minimum grade). The theoretical assessment for passing is a minimum of 9.5 points.
Practical note: 40% of the NF = 5% x PL + 5% x RTL + 30% x TCE
PL – Individual student laboratory performance
RTL – Group laboratory work reports
TCE – Scientific written papers
The TCE will be completed in groups:
- Urine Type II Monograph (10%)
- Class presentation (20%)
Language Portuguese. Tutorial support is available in English.
Last updated on: 2025-01-10

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