Nutrimetabolomics fingerprinting to identify biomarkers of whole grain wheat intake

Abstract

Increased whole grain (WG) consumption has been inversely associated with the risk for developing some diet‐related disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Many epidemiological studies, however, have failed to generate consistent results on this topic due to a lack of accurate tools to assess dietary intake of whole grains. Nutritional epidemiology research needs more reliable and quantitative methods for measuring dietary intake of specific foods. Using a targeted LC/MS based metabolomic approach, we established the metabolic fingerprints of the major phytochemicals in WG wheat in human urine including metabolites of alkylresorcinols, benzoxazinoids, lignans, and phytosterols, as well as microbial‐derived metabolites. Using a non‐targeted LC/MS based global metabolomic approach, we investigated the impact of WG wheat bread intake on the endogenous urinary metabolome. Metabolic profiling revealed a number of differences relating to the consumption of WG wheat bread vs. refined grain wheat bread, such as 3,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acid, 2‐aminophenol sulfate, ferulic acid 4‐sulfate, 2‐acetamidophenol sulfate, and cysteine. Using the targeted and non‐targeted nutrimetabolomic approaches, we are able to develop multiple metabolites as the potential biomerkers of WG wheat intake.Support or Funding InformationUSDA‐NIFA grant 2012‐38821‐20012 to S. Sang