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  • Original Article
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Reliability of fasting plasma alkylresorcinol concentrations measured 4 months apart

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 698–703 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Alkylresorcinols (ARs) have been suggested as specific dietary biomarkers of whole-grain intake. Evaluation of long-term reliability in repeatedly collected samples in population-based studies is needed to assess whether plasma AR reflect long-term exposure and may be used to study exposure–disease relationships in large-scale epidemiologic studies. The objective of this study was to analyze the reliability (reproducibility) of AR concentrations in fasting plasma measured 4 months apart.

Subjects/Methods:

AR concentrations (C17:0, C19:0, C21:0, C23:0 and C25:0 and total ARs) were measured in fasting plasma samples from 100 participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam Study with an interval of 4 months between blood sampling.

Results:

Fasting plasma AR concentrations were not significantly different between the first and second measurement over the 4-month period. Geometric means of total AR concentrations were 48.8 (95% confidence interval (CI)=41.5–57.3) nmol/l at the first and 48.7 (95% CI=41.4–57.4) nmol/l at the second measurement (P=0.99). The intraclass correlation coefficients for total AR concentrations were 0.42 (95% CI=0.25–0.57) for all, 0.55 (95% CI=0.32–0.72) for women, and 0.17 (95% CI=−0.11–0.42) for men. Comparable results were obtained for the individual homologues.

Conclusions:

Overall, we observed moderate reliability in concentration of total AR and individual homologues over time, although reliability was weaker in men than in women. These findings should be taken into account when using AR as blood biomarkers for whole-grain intake in large-scale epidemiologic studies.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Förderkennzeichen 0315381A); Nordforsk (Centre of excellence programme Helga); and by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS). The funding agencies had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the paper. The responsibility for the content of this paper lies with the authors. The authors thank Ellen Kohlsdorf, Herbert Piechot, Andrea Teichmann and Janicka Nilsson for skilful technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany

    J Montonen, S Knueppel, H Boeing & T Pischon

  2. Department of Food Science, Swedish University of Agriculture Science, Uppsala, Sweden

    R Landberg, A Kamal-Eldin & P Åman

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  1. J Montonen
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  2. R Landberg
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Correspondence to J Montonen.

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Montonen, J., Landberg, R., Kamal-Eldin, A. et al. Reliability of fasting plasma alkylresorcinol concentrations measured 4 months apart. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 698–703 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.71

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