Plasma Alkylresorcinols Reflect Gluten Intake and Distinguish between Gluten-Rich and Gluten-Poor Diets in a Population at Risk of Metabolic Syndrome
Journal article, 2016

Background: Many patients with celiac disease experience difficulties in adherence to a gluten-free diet. Methods for testing compliance to a gluten-free diet are costly and cumbersome. Thus, a simple biomarker of gluten intake is needed in a clinical setting and will be useful for epidemiologic studies investigating wider effects of gluten intake. Objective: The aim was to evaluate plasma total alkylresorcinol concentrations as a measure of gluten intake. Methods: In this randomized, controlled, crossover intervention study in 52 Danish adults with features of the metabolic syndrome, we compared 8 wk of a gluten-rich and gluten-poor diet separated by a washout period of wk. We measured fasting plasma concentrations of alkylresorcinols to determine if they reflected differences in gluten intake as a secondary outcome of the original study. In addition, we investigated in 118 Danish adults the cross-sectional association between self reported gluten intake and plasma alkylresorcinols in the same and a similar study at baseline. We used mixed-model ANCOVA for examining treatment effects, a classification tree to determine compliance to the gluten-poor diet, and linear regression models for examining baseline correlation between plasma alkylresorcinol concentrations and gluten intake. Results: Plasma total alkylresorcinols decreased more during the gluten-poor period (geometric mean: -124.8 nmol/L; 95% CI: -156.5, -93.0 nmol/L) than in the gluten-rich period (geometric mean: -31.8 nmol/L; 95% CI: -63.1, -0.4 nmol/L) (P < 0.001). On the basis of the plasma alkylresorcinol profile, we built a classification tree to objectively determine compliance and found an overall participant misclassification error of 3.9%. In the cross-sectional study we found a 5.6% (95% CI: 2.4%, 8.9%) increase in plasma total alkylresorcinols per 1-g increase in reported gluten intake (P < 0.001). Conclusion: We propose the use of plasma alkylresorcinols to monitor compliance to a gluten-free diet as well as to help investigations into the possible effects of gluten in the wider population. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT017119913 and NCT01731366.

whole-grain wheat

adolescents

celiac disease

gluten

at-risk

electrochemical

rye intake

detection

adults

gluten sensitivity

celiac-disease

gluten-related disorders

biomarkers

coeliac disease

cereal-grains

prevalence

liquid-chromatography

Author

Mads Vendelbo Lind

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Food and Nutrition Science

M. L. Madsen

Novo Nordisk Foundation

J. J. Rumessen

University of Copenhagen

H. Vestergaard

Novo Nordisk Foundation

R. J. Gabel

Novo Nordisk Foundation

T. Hansen

Novo Nordisk Foundation

L. Lauritzen

University of Copenhagen

O. B. Pedersen

Novo Nordisk Foundation

M. Kristensen

University of Copenhagen

Alastair Ross

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Food and Nutrition Science

Journal of Nutrition

0022-3166 (ISSN) 1541-6100 (eISSN)

Vol. 146 10 1991-1998

Subject Categories

Behavioral Sciences Biology

Areas of Advance

Life Science Engineering (2010-2018)

DOI

10.3945/jn.116.236398

More information

Latest update

5/26/2023