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Dietary and lifestyle determinants of acrylamide and glycidamide hemoglobin adducts in non-smoking postmenopausal women from the EPIC cohort

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Abstract

Purpose

Acrylamide was classified as ‘probably carcinogenic’ to humans in 1994 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In 2002, public health concern increased when acrylamide was identified in starchy, plant-based foods, processed at high temperatures. The purpose of this study was to identify which food groups and lifestyle variables were determinants of hemoglobin adduct concentrations of acrylamide (HbAA) and glycidamide (HbGA) in 801 non-smoking postmenopausal women from eight countries in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.

Methods

Biomarkers of internal exposure were measured in red blood cells (collected at baseline) by high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) . In this cross-sectional analysis, four dependent variables were evaluated: HbAA, HbGA, sum of total adducts (HbAA + HbGA), and their ratio (HbGA/HbAA). Simple and multiple regression analyses were used to identify determinants of the four outcome variables. All dependent variables (except HbGA/HbAA) and all independent variables were log-transformed (log2) to improve normality. Median (25th–75th percentile) HbAA and HbGA adduct levels were 41.3 (32.8–53.1) pmol/g Hb and 34.2 (25.4–46.9) pmol/g Hb, respectively.

Results

The main food group determinants of HbAA, HbGA, and HbAA + HbGA were biscuits, crackers, and dry cakes. Alcohol intake and body mass index were identified as the principal determinants of HbGA/HbAA. The total percent variation in HbAA, HbGA, HbAA + HbGA, and HbGA/HbAA explained in this study was 30, 26, 29, and 13 %, respectively.

Conclusions

Dietary and lifestyle factors explain a moderate proportion of acrylamide adduct variation in non-smoking postmenopausal women from the EPIC cohort.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds (WCRF NL) [Grant WCRF 2011/442] and by the Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Spanish Ministry of Health [Exp PI11/01473]. The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by the Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia [no. 6236], Navarra and the Catalan Institute of Oncology, La Caixa [BM 06-130], Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Cáncer [RD12/0036/0018; RD06/0020/0091] (Spain); Danish Cancer Society (Denmark); Ligue contre le Cancer, Institut Gustave Roussy, Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) (France); Deutsche Krebshilfe, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany); the Hellenic Health Foundation (Greece); Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC) and National Research Council (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Statistics Netherlands (the Netherlands); Nordic Center of Excellence in Food, Nutrition and Health-Helga (Norway); Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Scientific Council and Regional Government of Skåne and Västerbotten (Sweden); Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council (United Kingdom). MO-S is affiliated with the University of Barcelona.

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Correspondence to Eric J. Duell.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Obón-Santacana, M., Lujan-Barroso, L., Freisling, H. et al. Dietary and lifestyle determinants of acrylamide and glycidamide hemoglobin adducts in non-smoking postmenopausal women from the EPIC cohort. Eur J Nutr 56, 1157–1168 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1165-5

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