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2019 (English)In: International Journal of Cancer, ISSN 0020-7136, E-ISSN 1097-0215, Vol. 144, no 5, p. 68p. 947-956Article in journal (Other academic) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: One-carbon metabolism biomarker are easily measured in plasma, but analyzing them one at a time in relation to disease does not take into account the interdependence of the many factors involved. The relative dynamics of major one-carbon metabolism branches can be assessed by relating the functional B-vitamin marker total homocysteine (tHcy) to transsulfuration (total cysteine) and methylation (creatinine) outputs.
Objective: We validated the ratios of tHcy to total cysteine (Hcy:Cys), tHcy to creatinine (Hcy:Cre), and tHcy to cysteine to creatinine (Hcy:Cys:Cre) as functional markers of B-vitamin status. We also calculated the associations of these ratios to colorectal cancer (CRC) risk.
Design: The relative contribution of potential confounders to the variance of the ratio-based B-vitamin markers was calculated by linear regression in a nested case-control study of 613 CRC cases and 1211 matched controls. Total B-vitamin status was represented by a summary score comprising Z-standardized plasma concentrations of folate, cobalamin, betaine, pyridoxal 5´-phosphate, and riboflavin. Associations with CRC risk were estimated using conditional logistic regression.
Results: The ratio-based B-vitamin markers all outperformed tHcy as markers of total B-vitamin status, in both CRC cases and controls. Associations with CRC risk were similar for the ratio-based B-vitamin markers and total B-vitamin status (approximately 25% lower risk for high versus low B-vitamin status).
Conclusions: Ratio-based B-vitamin markers were good predictors of total B-vitamin status, and displayed similar associations with CRC risk. Since tHcy and creatinine are routinely clinically analyzed, Hcy:Cre could be easily implemented in clinical practice to aid interpretation of tHcy results.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2019. p. 68
Keywords
Biomarkers, colorectal cancer, metabolite ratios, B-vitamins, one-carbon metabolism
National Category
Clinical Laboratory Medicine
Research subject
Cancer Epidemiology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-142854 (URN)10.1002/ijc.31606 (DOI)000455041700003 ()29786139 (PubMedID)
Funder
Swedish Cancer Society, 12/501Swedish Cancer Society, 14/780
Note
Originally included in thesis in manuscript form
2017-12-122017-12-122019-02-14Bibliographically approved