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Investigation of Variations in the Human Urine Metabolome amongst European Populations: An Exploratory Search for Biomarkers of People at Risk‐of‐Poverty
Author(s) -
Trimigno Alessia,
Khakimov Bekzod,
Savorani Francesco,
Tenori Leonardo,
Hendrixson Vaiva,
Čivilis Alminas,
Glibetic Marija,
Gurinovic Mirjana,
Pentikäinen Saara,
Sallinen Janne,
Garduno Diaz Sara,
Pasqui Francesca,
Khokhar Santosh,
Luchinat Claudio,
Bordoni Alessandra,
Capozzi Francesco,
Balling Engelsen Søren
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
molecular nutrition and food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.495
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1613-4133
pISSN - 1613-4125
DOI - 10.1002/mnfr.201800216
Subject(s) - metabolome , poverty , environmental health , urine , population , ethnic group , demography , medicine , biology , metabolomics , political science , bioinformatics , economic growth , economics , sociology , law
Scope According to Eurostat 2016, approximately 119 million European citizens live at‐risk‐of‐poverty (ROP). This subpopulation is highly diverse by ethnicity, age, and culture in the different EU states, but they all have in common a low income that could represent an increased risk of nutrient deficiencies due to poor nutritional habits. This study aims to investigate the human urine metabolome in the search of common biomarkers representing dietary deficiencies amongst European populations at ROP. Methods and results 2732 urine samples were collected from 1391 subjects across five different European countries, including the United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, and Serbia, and analyzed using 1 H‐NMR spectroscopy. The resulting urine metabolome data were explored according to study design factors including economic status, country, and gender. Conclusion Partitioning of the effects derived from the study design factors using ANOVA‐simultaneous component analysis (ASCA) revealed that country and gender effects were responsible for most of the systematic variation. The effect of economic status was, as expected, much weaker than country and gender, but more pronounced in Lithuania than in other countries. Citrate and hippurate were among the most powerful ROP biomarkers. The possible relationship between these markers and nutritional deficiencies amongst the ROP population is discussed.