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Discovery and validation of urinary exposure markers for different plant foods by untargeted metabolomics

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Abstract

While metabolomics is increasingly used to investigate the food metabolome and identify new markers of food exposure, limited attention has been given to the validation of such markers. The main objectives of the present study were to (1) discover potential food exposure markers (PEMs) for a range of plant foods in a study setting with a mixed dietary background and (2) validate PEMs found in a previous meal study. Three-day weighed dietary records and 24-h urine samples were collected three times during a 6-month parallel intervention study from 107 subjects randomized to two distinct dietary patterns. An untargeted UPLC-qTOF-MS metabolomics analysis was performed on the urine samples, and all features detected underwent strict data analyses, including an iterative paired t test and sensitivity and specificity analyses for foods. A total of 22 unique PEMs were identified that covered 7 out of 40 investigated food groups (strawberry, cabbages, beetroot, walnut, citrus, green beans and chocolate). The PEMs reflected foods with a distinct composition rather than foods eaten more frequently or in larger amounts. We found that 23 % of the PEMs found in a previous meal study were also valid in the present intervention study. The study demonstrates that it is possible to discover and validate PEMs for several foods and food classes in an intervention study with a mixed dietary background, despite the large variability in such a dataset. Final validation of PEMs for intake of foods should be performed by quantitative analysis.

Examples of two urinary exposure markers for cabbage (left) and beetroot (right) found in the study from an untargeted LC‐MS metabolomics analysis of urine samples and self‐reported food intake data

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Acknowledgments

The intervention study was conducted as part of the OPUS project. OPUS is an acronym of the Danish title of the project 'Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet' and is supported by a grant from the Nordea Foundation, Denmark. The authors would like thank Majbritt Hybholt for providing the food intake data and Daniela Rago, Ümmühan Celik and Bernard Lyan for their contribution to the laboratory work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition Exercise and Sports, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, 1958, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Maj-Britt Schmidt Andersen, Mette Kristensen, Sanne Kellebjerg Poulsen, Thomas Meinert Larsen, Arne Astrup & Lars Dragsted

  2. INRA, UMR1019, Human Nutrition Unit, University of Auvergne, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand-Theix, France

    Claudine Manach & Estelle Pujos-Guillot

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  1. Maj-Britt Schmidt Andersen
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Correspondence to Maj-Britt Schmidt Andersen.

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Andersen, MB.S., Kristensen, M., Manach, C. et al. Discovery and validation of urinary exposure markers for different plant foods by untargeted metabolomics. Anal Bioanal Chem 406, 1829–1844 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7498-5

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