Original Article
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication 16 September 2009; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2009.110
Evaluation of a novel food composition database that includes glutamine and other amino acids derived from gene sequencing data
C M Lenders1,2,3,4, S Liu1,5, D W Wilmore3,6, L Sampson1,7, L W Dougherty1,8, D Spiegelman1,9 and W C Willett1,10
- 1Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- 2Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- 3Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
Correspondence: Dr CM Lenders, Division of General Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Nutrition and Fitness for Life program, Boston Medical Center–Vose Hall 3–Room 307, 88, East Newton Street, Boston MA 02118, USA. E-mail: carine.lenders@bmc.org
4Current address: Pediatric Nutrition Support Services, Boston Medical Center–Vose Hall 3–Room 307, 88, East Newton Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
5Current address: Department of Epidemiology and Medicine, UCLA CHS 73-265 Box 951772, 650 Charles E Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA.
6Current address: Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
7Current address: Harvard School of Public Health, Bldg 2, Rm 315, Nutrition, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
8Current address: Harvard School of Public Health-Nutrition, Bldg. 2, Room 311, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
9Current address: Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
10Current address: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Received 21 January 2009; Revised 16 June 2009; Accepted 7 July 2009; Published online 16 September 2009.
Abstract
Objectives:
To determine the content of glutamine in major food proteins.
Subjects/Methods:
We used a validated 131-food item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to identify the foods that contributed the most to protein intake among 70 356 women in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS, 1984). The content of glutamine and other amino acids in foods was calculated based on protein fractions generated from gene sequencing methods (Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics) and compared with data from conventional (USDA) and modified biochemical (Khun) methods. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to compare the participants' dietary intakes of amino acids by sequencing and USDA methods.
Results:
The glutamine content varied from 0.01 to to 9.49 g/100 g of food and contributed from 1 to to 33% of total protein for all FFQ foods with protein. When comparing the sequencing and Kuhn's methods, the proportion of glutamine in meat was 4.8 vs 4.4%. Among NHS participants, mean glutamine intake was 6.84 (s.d.=2.19) g/day and correlation coefficients for amino acid between intakes assessed by sequencing and USDA methods ranged from 0.94 to 0.99 for absolute intake, -0.08 to 0.90 after adjusting for 100 g of protein, and 0.88 to 0.99 after adjusting for 1000 kcal. The between-person coefficient of variation of energy-adjusted intake of glutamine was 16%.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that (1) glutamine content can be estimated from gene sequencing methods and (2) there is a reasonably wide variation in energy-adjusted glutamine intake, allowing for exploration of glutamine consumption and disease.
Keywords:
food composition, gene sequencing, amino acids, database, glutamine, food frequency
