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Influence of sample collection and preanalytical sample processing on the analyses of biological markers in the European multicentre study IDEFICS

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, pages S104–S112 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To evaluate the influence of a standardised sampling protocol and process quality across the different IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) centres on the results of the biochemical measurements.

Design:

Baseline survey within the community-based intervention study.

Subjects:

A total of 16 224 children, aged 2–8 years, enrolled in the IDEFICS baseline survey in 8 European countries. Venous or capillary blood samples were collected from 12 430 children, urine samples from 13 890 children and saliva samples from 14 019 children.

Methods:

A set of quality indicators was recorded for the biological blood, urine and saliva samples collected during the IDEFICS study. Results of blood and urine measurements were analysed and stratified by selected quality indicators.

Results:

Concentrations of biological markers in blood and urine measured during the IDEFICS baseline survey are associated with several quality indicators assessed in this study. Between-country variations of these biomarkers are described. It was confirmed that fasting has a big influence on the concentration of certain biomarkers. Biomarkers in morning urine samples may be erroneous if the study subjects void during the night or if samples are not taken from the very first morning urine.

Conclusions:

The analysed data underline that a standardised sampling protocol is of major importance, especially in multicentre studies, but non-compliance is ever present in spite of well-defined standard operation procedures. Deviations from the protocol should therefore always be documented to avoid error pertaining to the concentration of biological markers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was done as part of the IDEFICS study (http://www.idefics.eu). We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the European Community within the Sixth RTD Framework Programme Contract No. 016181 (FOOD). We thank the IDEFICS children and their parents for their participation.

The information in this document reflects the authors’ view and is provided as is.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    J Peplies, K Günther, K Bammann & W Ahrens

  2. MVZ Dortmund Dr Eberhard und Partner, Dortmund, Germany

    A Fraterman

  3. Epidemiology and Population Genetics, Institute of Food Sciences, CNR, Avellino, Italy

    P Russo

  4. National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia

    T Veidebaum

  5. Research and Education Institute of Child Health, Strovolos, Cyprus

    M Tornaritis

  6. Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    B Vanaelst

  7. Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden

    S Mårild

  8. National Institute of Health Promotion, University of P,

    D Molnár

  9. é,

    D Molnár

  10. cs, Gyermekklinika, P, é, cs, Hungary

    D Molnár

  11. Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development research group, School of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    L A Moreno

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  1. J Peplies
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  12. W Ahrens
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on behalf of the IDEFICS Consortium

Corresponding author

Correspondence to W Ahrens.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Statement of ethics

We certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations regarding the ethical use of human volunteers were followed during this research. Approval by the appropriate ethical committees was obtained by each of the eight centres engaged in the fieldwork. Participants were not subjected to any study procedure before both the children and their parents gave their consent for examinations, collection of samples, subsequent analysis and storage of personal data and collected samples. The participating children and their parents could consent to single components of the study while refraining from others. For ethical reasons, the amount of blood drawn varied according to age, weight and height of the children, and did not exceed 1% of the estimated blood volume of the child. Consequently, about 10–25 ml of blood was withdrawn from the 2- to 8-year-old children.

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Peplies, J., Günther, K., Bammann, K. et al. Influence of sample collection and preanalytical sample processing on the analyses of biological markers in the European multicentre study IDEFICS. Int J Obes 35 (Suppl 1), S104–S112 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.41

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