| 1. |
- Al-Delaimy, WK, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma levels of six carotenoids in nine European countries: report from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)
- 2004
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Ingår i: Public Health Nutrition. - 1475-2727 .- 1368-9800. ; 7:6, s. 713-722
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: In addition to their possible direct biological effects, plasma carotenoids can be used as biochemical markers of fruit and vegetable consumption for identifying diet-disease associations in epidemiological studies. Few studies have compared levels of these carotenoids between countries in Europe. Objective: Our aim was to assess the variability of plasma carotenoid levels within the cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Methods: Plasma levels of six carotenoids-alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin-were measured cross-sectionally in 3043 study subjects from 16 regions in nine European countries. We investigated the relative influence of gender, season, age, body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake and smoking status on plasma levels of the carotenoids. Results: Mean plasma level of the sum of the six carotenoids varied twofold between regions (1.35 mumol l(-1) for men in Malmo, Sweden vs. 2.79 mumol l(-1) for men in Ragusa/Naples, Italy; 1.61 mumol l(-1) for women in The Netherlands vs. 3.52 mumol l(-1) in Ragusa/Naples, Italy). Mean levels of individual carotenoids varied up to fourfold (alpha-carotene: 0.06 mumol l(-1) for men in Murcia, Spain vs. 0.25 mumol l(-1) for vegetarian men living in the UK). In multivariate regression analyses, region was the most important predictor of total plasma carotenoid level (partial R-2=27.3%), followed by BMI (partial R-2=5.2%), gender (partial R-2=2.7%) and smoking status (partial R-2=2.8%). Females had higher total carotenoid levels than males across Europe. Conclusions: Plasma levels of carotenoids vary substantially between 16 different regions in Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands. Compared with region of residence, the other demographic and lifestyle factors and laboratory measurements have limited predictive value for plasma carotenoid levels in Europe.
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| 2. |
- Slimani, N, et al.
(författare)
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Diversity of dietary patterns observed in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) project
- 2002
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Ingår i: Public Health Nutrition. - 1475-2727. ; 5:6B, s. 1311-1328
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective.. To describe the diversity in dietary patterns existing across centres/regions participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Design and setting.. Single 24-hour dietary recall measurements were obtained by means of standardised face-to-face interviews using the EPIC-SOFT software. These have been used to present a graphic multi-dimensional comparison of the adjusted mean consumption of 22 food groups. Subjects: In total, 35 955 men and women, aged 35-74 years, participating in the EPIC nested calibration study. Results.. Although wide differences were observed across centres, the countries participating in EPIC are characterised by specific dietary patterns. Overall, Italy and Greece have a dietary pattern characterised by plant foods (except potatoes) and a lower consumption of animal and processed foods, compared with the other EPIC countries. France and particularly Spain have more heterogeneous dietary patterns, with a relatively high consumption of both plant foods and animal products. Apart from characteristics specific to vegetarian groups, the UK 'health-conscious' group shares with the UK general population a relatively high consumption of tea, sauces, cakes, soft drinks (women), margarine and butter. In contrast, the diet in the Nordic countries, The Netherlands, Germany and the UK general population is relatively high in potatoes and animal, processed and sweetened/refined foods, with proportions varying across countries/centres. In these countries, consumption of vegetables and fruit is similar to, or below, the overall EPIC means, and is low for legumes and vegetable oils. Overall, dietary patterns were similar for men and women, although there were large gender differences for certain food groups. Conclusions: There are considerable differences in food group consumption and dietary patterns among the EPIC study populations. This large heterogeneity should be an advantage when investigating the relationship between diet and cancer and formulating new aetiological hypotheses related to dietary patterns and disease.
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| 3. |
- Slimani, N, et al.
(författare)
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European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study: rationale, design and population characteristics
- 2002
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Ingår i: Public Health Nutrition. - 1475-2727 .- 1368-9800. ; 5:6B, s. 1125-1145
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), which covers a large cohort of half a million men and women from 23 European centres in 10 Western European countries, was designed to study the relationship between diet and the risk of chronic diseases, particularly cancer. Information on usual individual dietary intake was assessed using different validated dietary assessment methods across participating countries. In order to adjust for possible systematic over- or underestimation in dietary intake measurements and correct for attenuation bias in relative risk estimates, a calibration approach was developed. This approach involved an additional dietary assessment common across study populations to re-express individual dietary intakes according to the same reference scale. A single 24-hour diet recall was therefore collected, as the EPIC reference calibration method, from a stratified random sample of 36 900 subjects from the entire EPIC cohort, using a software program (EPIC-SOFT) specifically designed to standardise the dietary measurements across study populations. This paper describes the design and populations of the calibration sub-studies set up in the EPIC centres. In addition, to assess whether the calibration sub-samples were representative of the entire group of EPIC cohorts, a series of subjects' characteristics known possibly to influence dietary intakes was compared in both population groups. This was the first time that calibration sub-studies had been set up in a large multi-centre European study. These studies showed that, despite certain inherent methodological and logistic constraints, a study design such as this one works relatively well in practice. The average response in the calibration study was 78.3% and ranged from 46.5% to 92.5%. The calibration population differed slightly from the overall cohort but the differences were small for most characteristics and centres. The overall results suggest that, after adjustment for age, dietary intakes estimated from calibration samples can reasonably be interpreted as representative of the main cohorts in most of the EPIC centres.
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