Scientific Reports (Sep 2019)

Evaluation of (−)-epicatechin metabolites as recovery biomarker of dietary flavan-3-ol intake

  • Javier I. Ottaviani,
  • Reedmond Fong,
  • Jennifer Kimball,
  • Jodi L. Ensunsa,
  • Nicola Gray,
  • Anna Vogiatzoglou,
  • Abigail Britten,
  • Debora Lucarelli,
  • Robert Luben,
  • Philip B. Grace,
  • Deborah H. Mawson,
  • Amy Tym,
  • Antonia Wierzbicki,
  • A. David Smith,
  • Nicholas J. Wareham,
  • Nita G. Forouhi,
  • Kay-Tee Khaw,
  • Hagen Schroeter,
  • Gunter G. C. Kuhnle

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49702-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Data from dietary intervention studies suggest that intake of (−)-epicatechin mediates beneficial vascular effects in humans. However, population-based investigations are required to evaluate associations between habitual intake and health and these studies rely on accurate estimates of intake, which nutritional biomarkers can provide. Here, we evaluate a series of structurally related (−)-epicatechin metabolites (SREM), particularly (−)-epicatechin-3′-glucuronide, (−)-epicatechin-3′-sulfate and 3′-O-methyl-(−)-epicatechin-5-sulfate (SREMB), as flavan-3-ol and (−)-epicatechin intake. SREMB in urine proved to be a specific indicator of (−)-epicatechin intake, showing also a strong correlation with the amount of (−)-epicatechin ingested (R2: 0.86 (95% CI 0.8l; 0.92). The median recovery of (−)-epicatechin as SREMB in 24 h urine was 10% (IQR 7–13%) and we found SREMB in the majority of participants of EPIC Norfolk (83% of 24,341) with a mean concentration of 2.4 ± 3.2 µmol/L. Our results show that SREMB are suitable as biomarker of (−)-epicatechin intake. According to evaluation criteria from IARC and the Institute of Medicine, the results obtained support use of SREMB as a recovery biomarker to estimate actual intake of (−)-epicatechin.