Plasma Alkylresorcinols and Urinary Alkylresorcinol Metabolites as Biomarkers of Cereal Fiber Intake in Finnish Women

Abstract

Alkylresorcinols (AR) could be good biomarkers of consumption of fiber-rich cereal products. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between plasma ARs or urinary AR metabolites and cereal fiber intake in women consuming their habitual diet. Twenty-five postmenopausal and 31 premenopausal women were recruited. The subjects included also vegetarians (n = 20) to obtain a broad range of cereal intake. Dietary intake, plasma ARs, and urinary AR metabolites [3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid and 3-(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl)-1-propanoic acid] were measured. Pearson's and Partial correlation tests were done between dietary fiber intake and plasma ARs or urinary AR metabolites. Cereal fiber intake correlated significantly with plasma AR C17:0 (r = 0.387), AR C19:0 (r = 0.350), AR C21:0 (r = 0.428), AR C23:0 (r = 0.409), AR C25:0 (r = 0.283), and total AR (r = 0.406) and with urinary AR metabolites DHBA (r = 0.359) and DHPPA (r = 0.402) even after adjustment for body mass index and age, which could be confounding variables. This is the first study to show a significant correlation between plasma ARs or urinary AR metabolites and cereal fiber intake during consumption of a habitual diet. These results indicate that assay of plasma ARs or urinary AR metabolites may be used as biomarkers in epidemiologic studies in free-living populations to evaluate the role of cereal fiber intake in various diseases. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(9):2244 -8)

Plasma alkylresorcinols, biomarkers of whole-grain intake, are not associated with progression of coronary artery atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease

“…This median plasma AR concentration observed is similar to that reported for participants in the intervention arm of a metabolic study who were provided with a control diet devoid of whole grains, and that reported for older men and women living in the USA (20,34) . In comparison to European cohorts, these AR concentrations are low, confirming low intake of whole-grain wheat (10,12,35,36) . Although the correlations between the single fasting plasma AR concentrations and self-reported intake of whole grains and cereal fibre were moderate (r = 0·33-0·35), the weaker or non-significant associations between plasma AR and the other dietary fibres confirms the specificity of AR as a biomarker of whole grains.…”

Plasma Alkylresorcinols, Biomarkers of Whole-Grain Intake, Are Related to Lower BMI in Older Adults

“…Although several studies have related estimates of wholegrain intake to concentrations of plasma AR (5,12,16,17,27,32), most of these studies were conducted in adults living in northern Europe where habitual whole-grain intake may be higher than in the United States (daily consumption <16 g or 1 serving) (33). For example, the mean intake of whole grains in a general Danish population was ;35 g/d (;2 servings) (12).…”

“…Al-though, urinary AR metabolites have been correlated with whole-grain intake in the US populations (14,15), data on the use of plasma AR as surrogate biomarkers of total whole-grain intake in both elderly and free-living adults in the United States are scarce. In northern European populations who consume predominantly whole-grain rye, plasma AR has been found to correlate with intake of whole grain (16,17).…”

Reliability of fasting plasma alkylresorcinol concentrations measured 4 months apart

“…The bioavailability of AR homologues increases with homologue length (Landberg et al, 2006b) and AR homologues with higher relative bioavailability (C23:0 and C25:0) have been shown to be closer correlated with intake (Landberg et al, 2008a). Plasma AR concentrations in general have been shown to increase in a dose-dependent manner with intakes of whole-grain rye or wheat bread in intervention studies Linko-Parvinen et al, 2007;Landberg et al, 2008aLandberg et al, , 2009a and were associated with fibre or whole-grain intake in small-scale cross-sectional analyses (Aubertin-Leheudre et al, 2008;Ross et al, 2009).…”