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Biomarkers in Food and Nutrition Research

Edited by Prof Lars Ove Dragsted and Dr Giuditta Perozzi

This new series from Genes and Nutrition outlines the needs and importance of dietary and health biomarkers. In the dietary and health research area, biomarkers are extensively used for multiple purposes. These include biomarkers of dietary intake and nutrient status, biomarkers used to measure the biological effects of specific dietary components, and biomarkers to assess the effects of diet on health. The implementation of biomarkers in nutritional research will be important to improve measurements of dietary intake, exposure to specific dietary components, and of compliance to dietary interventions. Biomarkers could also help with improved characterization of nutritional status in study volunteers and to provide much mechanistic insight into the effects of food components and diets. Although hundreds of papers in nutrition are published annually, there is no current ontology for the area, no generally accepted classification terminology for biomarkers in nutrition and health, no systematic validation scheme for these biomarker classes, and no recent systematic review of all proposed biomarkers for food intake. While advanced databases exist for the human and food metabolomes, additional tools are needed to curate and evaluate current data on dietary and health biomarkers.  

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

View all collections published in Genes and Nutrition.

  1. Nutrient composition of vegetarian diets is greatly different from that of omnivore diets, which may fundamentally influence the gut microbiota and fecal metabolites. The interactions between diet pattern and ...

    Authors: Xinqi Deng, Jiangtao Si, Yonglong Qu, Li Jie, Yuansong He, Chunguo Wang and Yuping Zhang
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2021 16:16
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. It is reported that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a key role in atherosclerosis (AS). Foam cell formation, which is the main feature of AS, can be significantly inhibited by cholesterol efflux.

    Authors: Jie Liu, Yue Wei, Yong Lin, Peiwen Zhang, Zhexiao Zhang, Hairong Huang, Hongfu Wu and Tangbin Zou
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2021 16:13
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Fermented foods are ubiquitous in human diets and often lauded for their sensory, nutritious, and health-promoting qualities. However, precise associations between the intake of fermented foods and health have...

    Authors: Katherine J. Li, Elske M. Brouwer-Brolsma, Kathryn J. Burton-Pimentel, Guy Vergères and Edith J. M. Feskens
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2021 16:5
    Content type: Review Published on:

  4. Grapes and berries are two types of widely consumed fruits characterized by a high content in different phytochemicals. However, their accurate dietary assessment is particularly arduous, because of the alread...

    Authors: M. Ulaszewska, M. Garcia-Aloy, N. Vázquez-Manjarrez, M. T. Soria-Florido, R. Llorach, F. Mattivi and C. Manach
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2020 15:17
    Content type: Review Published on:

  5. Consumption of fruit and vegetable is a key component of a healthy and sustainable diet. However, their accurate dietary assessment remains a challenge. Due to errors in self-reporting methods, the available d...

    Authors: N. Vázquez-Manjarrez, M. Ulaszewska, M. Garcia-Aloy, F. Mattivi, G. Praticò, L. O. Dragsted and C. Manach
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2020 15:11
    Content type: Review Published on:

  6. Numerous studies acknowledged the importance of an adequate vegetable consumption for human health. However, current methods to estimate vegetable intake are often prone to measurement errors due to self-repor...

    Authors: Elske M. Brouwer-Brolsma, Beate Brandl, Marion E. C. Buso, Thomas Skurk and Claudine Manach
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2020 15:7
    Content type: Review Published on:

  7. Excessive intake of carbohydrates and fats causes over-nutrition, leading to a variety of diseases and complications. Here, we characterized the effects of different types of sugar and lipids on the growth and...

    Authors: Xiong Wang, Lin Zhang, Lei Zhang, Wenli Wang, Sihan Wei, Jie Wang, Huilian Che and Yali Zhang
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2020 15:1
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Meat, including fish and shellfish, represents a valuable constituent of most balanced diets. Consumption of different types of meat and fish has been associated with both beneficial and adverse health effects...

    Authors: Cătălina Cuparencu, Giulia Praticó, Lieselot Y. Hemeryck, Pedapati S. C. Sri Harsha, Stefania Noerman, Caroline Rombouts, Muyao Xi, Lynn Vanhaecke, Kati Hanhineva, Lorraine Brennan and Lars O. Dragsted
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2019 14:35
    Content type: Review Published on:

  9. Cereal foods are major contributors to the daily energy, protein, and dietary fiber intake all over the world. The role of cereals in human health is dependent on whether they are consumed as refined or whole ...

    Authors: Rikard Landberg, Kati Hanhineva, Kieran Tuohy, Mar Garcia-Aloy, Izabela Biskup, Rafael Llorach, Xiaofei Yin, Lorraine Brennan and Marjukka Kolehmainen
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2019 14:28
    Content type: Review Published on:

  10. Seaweeds are marine macroalgae, some of which are edible. They are rich in specific dietary fibers and also contain other characteristic biological constituents. Biological activities have been investigated ma...

    Authors: Muyao Xi and Lars O. Dragsted
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2019 14:24
    Content type: Review Published on:

  11. Culinary herbs and spices have been used as both food flavoring and food preservative agents for centuries. Moreover, due to their known and presumptive health benefits, herbs and spices have also been used in...

    Authors: Rosa Vázquez-Fresno, Albert Remus R. Rosana, Tanvir Sajed, Tuviere Onookome-Okome, Noah A. Wishart and David S. Wishart
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2019 14:18
    Content type: Review Published on:

  12. Tubers are important crops as well as staple foods in human nutrition. Among tubers, the potato in particular has been investigated for its health effects. However, except for its contribution to energy and ef...

    Authors: Xiaomin Zhou, Qian Gao, Giulia Praticò, Jie Chen and Lars Ove Dragsted
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2019 14:9
    Content type: Review Published on:

  13. Nuts and vegetable oils are important sources of fat and of a wide variety of micronutrients and phytochemicals. Following their intake, several of their constituents, as well as their derived metabolites, are...

    Authors: Mar Garcia-Aloy, Paul J. M. Hulshof, Sheila Estruel-Amades, Maryse C. J. Osté, Maria Lankinen, Johanna M. Geleijnse, Janette de Goede, Marynka Ulaszewska, Fulvio Mattivi, Stephan J. L. Bakker, Ursula Schwab and Cristina Andres-Lacueva
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2019 14:7
    Content type: Review Published on:

  14. Allium vegetables are widely consumed around the world and are known for their potential bioactive components improving human health. These effects have been extensively investigated; however, the results were in...

    Authors: Giulia Praticò, Qian Gao, Claudine Manach and Lars O. Dragsted
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:34
    Content type: Review Published on:

  15. Fruit is a key component of a healthy diet. However, it is still not clear whether some classes of fruit may be more beneficial than others and whether all individuals whatever their age, gender, health status...

    Authors: Marynka Ulaszewska, Natalia Vázquez-Manjarrez, Mar Garcia-Aloy, Rafael Llorach, Fulvio Mattivi, Lars O. Dragsted, Giulia Praticò and Claudine Manach
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:29
    Content type: Review Published on:

  16. Dairy and egg products constitute an important part of Western diets as they represent an excellent source of high-quality proteins, vitamins, minerals and fats. Dairy and egg products are highly diverse and t...

    Authors: Linda H Münger, Mar Garcia-Aloy, Rosa Vázquez-Fresno, Doreen Gille, Albert Remus R Rosana, Anna Passerini, María-Trinidad Soria-Florido, Grégory Pimentel, Tanvir Sajed, David S Wishart, Cristina Andres Lacueva, Guy Vergères and Giulia Praticò
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:26
    Content type: Review Published on:

  17. There is a growing interest in assessing dietary intake more accurately across different population groups, and biomarkers have emerged as a complementary tool to replace traditional dietary assessment methods...

    Authors: Pedapati S. C. Sri Harsha, Roshaida Abdul Wahab, Mar Garcia-Aloy, Francisco Madrid-Gambin, Sheila Estruel-Amades, Bernhard Watzl, Cristina Andrés-Lacueva and Lorraine Brennan
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:25
    Content type: Review Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:27

  18. Non-alcoholic beverages are important sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds that may influence human health and increase or decrease the risk of chronic diseases. A wide variety of beverage constituents...

    Authors: Joseph A. Rothwell, Francisco Madrid-Gambin, Mar Garcia-Aloy, Cristina Andres-Lacueva, Caomhan Logue, Alison M. Gallagher, Carina Mack, Sabine E. Kulling, Qian Gao, Giulia Praticò, Lars O. Dragsted and Augustin Scalbert
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:15
    Content type: Review Published on:

  19. Biomarkers of food intake (BFIs) are a promising tool for limiting misclassification in nutrition research where more subjective dietary assessment instruments are used. They may also be used to assess complia...

    Authors: L. O. Dragsted, Q. Gao, A. Scalbert, G. Vergères, M. Kolehmainen, C. Manach, L. Brennan, L. A. Afman, D. S. Wishart, C. Andres Lacueva, M. Garcia-Aloy, H. Verhagen, E. J. M. Feskens and G. Praticò
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:14
    Content type: Review Published on:

  20. The multidisciplinary nature of nutrition research is one of its main strengths. At the same time, however, it presents a major obstacle to integrate data analysis, especially for the terminological and semant...

    Authors: Francesco Vitali, Rosario Lombardo, Damariz Rivero, Fulvio Mattivi, Pietro Franceschi, Alessandra Bordoni, Alessia Trimigno, Francesco Capozzi, Giovanni Felici, Francesco Taglino, Franco Miglietta, Nathalie De Cock, Carl Lachat, Bernard De Baets, Guy De Tré, Mariona Pinart…
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:12
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. Identification of new biomarkers of food and nutrient intake has developed fast over the past two decades and could potentially provide important new tools for compliance monitoring and dietary intake assessme...

    Authors: Giulia Praticò, Qian Gao, Augustin Scalbert, Guy Vergères, Marjukka Kolehmainen, Claudine Manach, Lorraine Brennan, Sri Harsha Pedapati, Lydia A. Afman, David S. Wishart, Rosa Vázquez-Fresno, Cristina Andres-Lacueva, Mar Garcia-Aloy, Hans Verhagen, Edith J. M. Feskens and Lars O. Dragsted
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2018 13:3
    Content type: Review Published on:

  22. Biomarkers are an efficient means to examine intakes or exposures and their biological effects and to assess system susceptibility. Aided by novel profiling technologies, the biomarker research field is underg...

    Authors: Qian Gao, Giulia Praticò, Augustin Scalbert, Guy Vergères, Marjukka Kolehmainen, Claudine Manach, Lorraine Brennan, Lydia A. Afman, David S. Wishart, Cristina Andres-Lacueva, Mar Garcia-Aloy, Hans Verhagen, Edith J. M. Feskens and Lars O. Dragsted
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2017 12:34
    Content type: Review Published on:

  23. In the dietary and health research area, biomarkers are extensively used for multiple purposes. These include biomarkers of dietary intake and nutrient status, biomarkers used to measure the biological effects...

    Authors: Lars O. Dragsted, Qian Gao, Giulia Praticò, Claudine Manach, David S. Wishart, Augustin Scalbert and Edith J. M. Feskens
    Citation: Genes & Nutrition 2017 12:24
    Content type: Commentary Published on: