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Nutrition and Health (including climate and ecological aspects)

Validity of dietary isothiocyanate intake estimates from a food frequency questionnaire using 24 h urinary isothiocyanate excretion as an objective biomarker: the JPHC-NEXT protocol area

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 76, pages 462–468 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Isothiocyanate (ITC) is formed via the hydrolysis of glucosinolates by myrosinase, found in cruciferous vegetables. Although myrosinase is inactivated by the cooking process, no studies have incorporated the effect of cooking into the estimation of dietary ITC intake or evaluated the validity. We evaluated the validity of dietary ITC intake estimated from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and urinary ITC levels using 24 h urine samples or a WFR (weighed food record), and evaluated the reproducibility of dietary ITC in two FFQs administered at an interval of 1-year.

Subjects/methods

The JPHC-NEXT Protocol Area included a total of 255 middle-aged participants across Japan. We calculated dietary ITC intake from WFR and two FFQs by assuming that cooked cruciferous vegetables contain zero ITC. Urinary ITC excretion was measured at two points during summer and winter. The validity and reproducibility of dietary ITC intake estimated by FFQ were assessed using Spearman’s correlation coefficients.

Results

Although we observed a moderate correlation between dietary ITC intake derived from a 12-day WFR and urinary ITC excretion, notwithstanding the cooking process, the correlation between dietary ITC intake estimated by FFQ and mean urinary ITC excretion was low. However, the correlation was improved when we compared urinary ITC excretion and a 3-day WFR or FFQ collected during winter. Our FFQ showed good reproducibility.

Conclusion

Although seasonality is a critical factor, dietary ITC intake estimated using an FFQ showed moderate validity and reproducibility and can be used in future epidemiological studies.

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Fig. 1: Data collection sequnece in the JPHC-NEXT Protocol Area.

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Acknowledgements

PHC members (as of May 2020) are listed at the following site: https://epi.ncc.go.jp/en/jphc/781/8390.html.

Funding

This research was supported by National Cancer Research and Development Fund [23-A-31 (Toku) and 26-A-2] (since 2010), Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (from 1989 to 2010), and a grant from the commissioned project study, Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry, Japan (JPJ005336).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology and Prevention Group, Center for Public Health Sciences, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan

    Nagisa Mori, Norie Sawada, Taichi Shimazu, Utako Murai, Taiki Yamaji, Motoki Iwasaki & Shoichiro Tsugane

  2. Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO), Lyon, France

    Nagisa Mori

  3. School of Life and Environmental Science, Department of Food and Life Science, Azabu University, Kanagawa, Japan

    Junpei Yamamoto & Junko Ishihara

  4. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Human Life and Environment, Nara Women’s University, Nara, Japan

    Ribeka Takachi

  5. Department of Community Preventive Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan

    Kazutoshi Nakamura

  6. Department of Health Promotion Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan

    Junta Tanaka

  7. Public Health, Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Hiroyasu Iso

  8. Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Ibaraki, Japan

    Masuko Kobori

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  1. Nagisa Mori
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Contributions

JY, JI, TS, RT, KN, JT, TY, MI, HI, ST designed the validation study. NM performed the analyses, prepared the tables and drafted the paper. NS supported analyses, discussions and finalizing of the paper. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results and have read and approved the final paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Norie Sawada.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Mori, N., Sawada, N., Yamamoto, J. et al. Validity of dietary isothiocyanate intake estimates from a food frequency questionnaire using 24 h urinary isothiocyanate excretion as an objective biomarker: the JPHC-NEXT protocol area. Eur J Clin Nutr 76, 462–468 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-021-00970-x

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