Associations between usual food intake and faecal sterols and bile acids: results from the Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg Region (KORA FF4) study

Abstract

Animal sterols, plant sterols and bile acids in stool samples have been suggested as biomarkers of dietary intake. It is still unknown whether they also reflect long-term habitual dietary intake and can be used in aetiological research. In a subgroup of the Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg Region (KORA FF4) study, habitual dietary intake was estimated based on repeated 24-h food list and a FFQ. Stool samples were collected according to a standard operating procedure and those meeting the quality criteria were extracted and analysed by means of a metabolomics technique. The present study is based on data from 513 men and 495 women with a mean age of 60 and 58 years, respectively, for which faecal animal and plant sterols and bile acids concentrations and dietary intake data were available. In adjusted regression models, the associations between food intake and log-normalised metabolite concentrations were analysed. Bonferroni correction was used to account for multiple testing. In this population-based sample, associations between habitual dietary intake and faecal concentrations of animal sterols were identified, while the impact of usual diet on bile acids was limited. A habitual diet high in ‘fruits’ and ‘nuts and seeds’ is associated with lower animal faecal sterols concentrations, whereas a diet high in ‘meat and meat products’ is positively related to faecal concentrations of animal sterols. A positive association between glycocholate and fruit consumption was found. Further studies are necessary for evaluation of faecal animal sterols as biomarkers of diet. The findings need to be confirmed in other populations with diverse dietary habits.

Associations between Dietary Patterns and Bile Acids—Results from a Cross-Sectional Study in Vegans and Omnivores

“…Moreover, our derived dietary pattern included fried potatoes, which were enriched with fat after processing, and their intake was correlated with higher bile acid concentration across the pattern. Yet, due to their fat content, the identification of processed meat, margarine, and fried potatoes as major food groups in this pattern was in line with a recent population based study, which observed a positive correlation between intakes of meat, processed meat, potatoes, and vegetables oils and fecal bile acid concentrations [54].…”

A single faecal bile acid stool test demonstrates potential efficacy in replacing SeHCAT testing for bile acid diarrhoea in selected patients

“…Our study also did not control for other possible variables that could have affected our results, including dietary intake and definitively excluding other malabsorption conditions. Studies have shown that a high-fibre and low-fat diet results in lower faecal bile acid concentrations 21 , 22 . However, as patients undergoing SeHCAT scans are not advised to undergo any dietary restrictions before or during the testing time, we wanted to maintain the same guidance for consistency.…”

Association of egg consumption, metabolic markers, and risk of cardiovascular diseases: A nested case-control study

“…However, few studies have focused on plasma lipid metabolites between such associations so far. Some studies examined the metabonomics characteristics of plasma or feces in a wide range of food groups, including eggs, but had not shown much interest in lipid metabolites ( Guertin et al, 2014 ; Mitry et al, 2019 ). Other studies combined eggs with other foods, such as ham, as a feed intervention to investigate consumers' metabolomics characteristics, but the results can not reflect the metabolite changes caused by egg consumption alone ( Rådjursöga et al, 2019 ; Rådjursöga et al, 2017 ).…”