Ecological-level associations between highly processed food intakes and plasma phospholipid elaidic acid concentrations: results from a cross-sectional study within the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC).

Elaidic acid is the main unnatural trans fatty acid isomer occurring during partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils used as ingredients for the formulation of processed foods. The main objective is to assess associations between processed food intakes and plasma phospholipid elaidic acid concentrations within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. A cross-sectional study was used to determine fatty acid profiles in 3,003 subjects from 16 centers. Single 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDR) were collected using a standardized computerized interview program. Food intakes were computed according to their degree of processing (moderately/nonprocessed foods, processed staple foods, highly processed foods). Adjusted ecological and individual correlations were calculated between processed food intakes and plasma elaidic acid levels. At the population level, mean intakes of highly processed foods were strongly correlated with mean levels of plasma elaidic acid in men (P = 0.0016) and in women (P = 0.0012). At the individual level, these associations remained but at a much lower level in men (r = 0.08, P = 0.006) and in women (r = 0.09, P = 0.0001). The use of an averaged 24-HDR measure of highly processed food intakes is adequate for predicting mean levels of plasma elaidic acid among European populations.

Smoking and risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: analysis of the EPIC cohort.

OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking has been reported as "probable" risk factor for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a poorly understood disease in terms of aetiology. The extensive longitudinal data of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) were used to evaluate age-specific mortality rates from ALS and the role of cigarette smoking on the risk of dying from ALS. METHODS: A total of 517,890 healthy subjects were included, resulting in 4,591,325 person-years. ALS cases were ascertained through death certificates. Cox hazard models were built to investigate the role of smoking on the risk of ALS, using packs/years and smoking duration to study dose-response. RESULTS: A total of 118 subjects died from ALS, resulting in a crude mortality rate of 2.69 per 100,000/year. Current smokers at recruitment had an almost two-fold increased risk of dying from ALS compared to never smokers (HR = 1.89, 95% C.I. 1.14-3.14), while former smokers at the time of enrollment had a 50% increased risk (HR = 1.48, 95% C.I. 0.94-2.32). The number of years spent smoking increased the risk of ALS (p for trend = 0.002). Those who smoked more than 33 years had more than a two-fold increased risk of ALS compared with never smokers (HR = 2.16, 95% C.I. 1.33-3.53). Conversely, the number of years since quitting smoking was associated with a decreased risk of ALS compared with continuing smoking. INTERPRETATION: These results strongly support the hypothesis of a role of cigarette smoking in aetiology of ALS. We hypothesize that this could occur through lipid peroxidation via formaldehyde exposure.

Physical activity and risk of prostate cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.

The evidence concerning the possible association between physical activity and the risk of prostate cancer is inconsistent and additional data are needed. We examined the association between risk of prostate cancer and physical activity at work and in leisure time in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. In our study, including 127,923 men aged 20-97 years from 8 European countries, 2,458 cases of prostate cancer were identified during 8.5 years of followup. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, we investigated the associations between prostate cancer incidence rate and occupational activity and leisure time activity in terms of participation in sports, cycling, walking and gardening; a metabolic equivalent (MET) score based on weekly time spent on the 4 activities; and a physical activity index. MET hours per week of leisure time activity, higher score in the physical activity index, participation in any of the 4 leisure time activities, and the number of leisure time activities in which the participants were active were not associated with prostate cancer incidence. However, higher level of occupational physical activity was associated with lower risk of advanced stage prostate cancer (p(trend) = 0.024). In conclusion, our data support the hypothesis of an inverse association between advanced prostate cancer risk and occupational physical activity, but we found no support for an association between prostate cancer risk and leisure time physical activity.

Genetic variation in genes of the fatty acid synthesis pathway and breast cancer risk.

Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is the major enzyme of lipogenesis. It catalyzes the NADPH-dependent condensation of acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA to produce palmitic acid. Transcription of the FAS gene is controlled synergistically by the transcription factors ChREBP (carbohydrate response element-binding protein), which is induced by glucose, and SREBP-1 (sterol response element-binding protein-1), which is stimulated by insulin through the PI3K/Akt signal transduction pathway. We investigated whether the genetic variability of the genes encoding for ChREBP, SREBP and FAS (respectively, MLXIPL, SREBF1 and FASN) is related to breast cancer risk and body-mass index (BMI) by studying 1,294 breast cancer cases and 2,452 controls from the European Prospective Investigation on Cancer (EPIC). We resequenced the FAS gene and combined information of SNPs found by resequencing and SNPs from public databases. Using a tagging approach and selecting 20 SNPs, we covered all the common genetic variation of these genes. In this study we were not able to find any statistically significant association between the SNPs in the FAS, ChREBP and SREPB-1 genes and an increased risk of breast cancer overall and by subgroups of age, menopausal status, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use or BMI. On the other hand, we found that two SNPs in FASN were associated with BMI.

Fruit, vegetables, and colorectal cancer risk: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

BACKGROUND: A high consumption of fruit and vegetables is possibly associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the findings to date are inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: We examined the relation between self-reported usual consumption of fruit and vegetables and the incidence of CRC. DESIGN: In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), 452,755 subjects (131,985 men and 320,770 women) completed a dietary questionnaire in 1992-2000 and were followed up for cancer incidence and mortality until 2006. A multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. RESULTS: After an average follow-up of 8.8 y, 2,819 incident CRC cases were reported. Consumption of fruit and vegetables was inversely associated with CRC in a comparison of the highest with the lowest EPIC-wide quintile of consumption (HR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.75, 1.00; P for trend = 0.04), particularly with colon cancer risk (HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.91; P for trend < 0.01). Only after exclusion of the first 2 y of follow-up were these findings corroborated by calibrated continuous analyses for a 100-g increase in consumption: HRs of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.91, 1.00; P = 0.04) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.89, 0.99; P = 0.02), respectively. The association between fruit and vegetable consumption and CRC risk was inverse in never and former smokers, but positive in current smokers. This modifying effect was found for fruit and vegetables combined and for vegetables alone (P for interaction < 0.01 for both). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that a high consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of CRC, especially of colon cancer. This effect may depend on smoking status.

Vitamin D receptor and calcium sensing receptor polymorphisms and the risk of colorectal cancer in European populations.

Increased levels of vitamin D and calcium may play a protective role in colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. It has been suggested that these effects may be mediated by genetic variants of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and the calcium sensing receptor (CASR). However, current epidemiologic evidence from European populations for a role of these genes in CRC risk is scarce. In addition, it is not clear whether these genes may modulate CRC risk independently or by interaction with blood vitamin D concentration and level of dietary calcium intake. A case-control study was conducted nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. CRC cases (1,248) were identified and matched to 1,248 control subjects. Genotyping for the VDR (BsmI: rs1544410; Fok1: rs2228570) and CASR (rs1801725) genes was done by Taqman, and serum vitamin D (25OHD) concentrations were measured. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the incidence rate ratio (RR). Compared with the wild-type bb, the BB genotype of the VDR BsmI polymorphism was associated with a reduced risk of CRC [RR, 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.59-0.98). The association was observed for colon cancer (RR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.45-0.95) but not rectal cancer (RR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.62-1.49). The Fok1 and CASR genotypes were not associated with CRC risk in this study. No interactions were noted for any of the polymorphisms with serum 25OHD concentration or level of dietary calcium. These results confirm a role for the BsmI polymorphism of the VDR gene in CRC risk, independent of serum 25OHD concentration and dietary calcium intake.

Plasma phospholipid fatty acid profiles and their association with food intakes: results from a cross-sectional study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

BACKGROUND: Plasma phospholipid fatty acids have been correlated with food intakes in populations with homogeneous dietary patterns. However, few data are available on populations with heterogeneous dietary patterns. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate whether plasma phospholipid fatty acids are suitable biomarkers of dietary intakes across populations involved in a large European multicenter study. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study design nested to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) was conducted to determine plasma fatty acid profiles in >3,000 subjects from 16 centers, who had also completed 24-h dietary recalls and dietary questionnaires. Plasma fatty acids were assessed by capillary gas chromatography. Ecological and individual correlations were calculated between fatty acids and select food groups. RESULTS: The most important determinant of plasma fatty acids was region, which suggests that the variations across regions are largely due to different food intakes. Strong ecological correlations were observed between fish intake and long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (r = 0.78, P < 0.01), olive oil and oleic acid (r = 0.73, P < 0.01), and margarine and elaidic acid (r = 0.76, P < 0.01). Individual correlations varied across the regions, particularly between olive oil and oleic acid and between alcohol and the saturation index, as an indicator of stearoyl CoA desaturase activity. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that specific plasma phospholipid fatty acids are suitable biomarkers of some food intakes in the EPIC Study. Moreover, these findings suggest complex interactions between alcohol intake and fatty acid metabolism, which warrants further attention in epidemiologic studies relating dietary fatty acids to alcohol-related cancers and other chronic diseases.