Metabolomic pattern of ultraprocessed food intake and its association with colorectal cancer risk
Du M, Wang X, Hang D, Wang F, Lu Y, Wang K, Bever AM, Nogal A, Haslam D, Ogino S, Meyerhardt JA, Liang L, Sun Q, Huttenhower C, Chan AT, Hu FB, Song M
Gut · 1 citation
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Case-control study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Clinical events such as disease or death
- Intake measured by
- Food frequency questionnaire
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Nonprofit
- American Cancer Society
- Government
- National Cancer Institute
- Government
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- Government
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Government
- NIDDK NIH HHS
- Government
- NCI NIH HHS
- Government
- NIGMS NIH HHS
- Grants
- National Cancer Institute (U01 CA167552); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM144273); National Cancer Institute (R01 CA263776); National Cancer Institute (R35CA253185); National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U2C DK129670); National Cancer Institute (P01 CA087969); National Cancer Institute (UM1 CA186107); American Cancer Society (MRSG-17-220-01-NEC); National Cancer Institute (K00 CA274714); National Cancer Institute (R01 CA285851); National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K01 DK136968); National Cancer Institute (U01CA261961); American Cancer Society (CRP-24-1185864-01-PROF); National Cancer Institute ([P01 CA87969)
Based on 7 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2025-12-24 · Gut · vol. 75 · issue 3 · pp. 538–547
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Cited
- 3 citations · more than 77% of similar papers · 1.0× the field average
- References
- 57 works
- Access
- Open access (repository copy)
- Research areas
- Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies · Nutritional Studies and Diet · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease
- Keywords
- Metabolomics, Colorectal cancer, Food intake, Colonic disease, Cancer, Association (psychology)
17 authors
From US, CN, JP
- Mengxi DuHarvard University; Massachusetts General Hospital
- Xinyu WangHarvard University
- Dong HangNanjing Medical University
- F. WangHarvard University
- Y LuHarvard University
- Kai WangHarvard University; Massachusetts General Hospital
Abstract
Background
High ultra-processed food (UPF) intake has been linked to colorectal cancer (CRC), but underlying mechanisms remain unclear.
Objective
To evaluate a metabolomic pattern of UPF intake and its association with CRC risk.
Design
Integrating food frequency questionnaire data and high-throughput metabolomic profiling in 1740 participants (mean age at blood draw: 59.9 years; >95% non-Hispanic white participants) from nested case-control studies within the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, we derived and validated a UPF-related metabolomic pattern as a weighted sum of metabolites selected via elastic net regression with 10-fold cross-validation. We evaluated prospective associations of this pattern and individual metabolites with CRC risk using multivariable conditional logistic regression in 686 pairs of incident CRC cases and matched controls.
Results
Among 222 metabolites, we constructed a UPF metabolomic pattern comprising 50 metabolites, primarily lipids and amino acids, with 22 positively and 28 inversely associated with total UPF intake (pattern vs intake: Spearman rho=0.35). The pattern was associated with higher CRC risk (highest vs lowest quintile: OR (95% CI) 1.71 (1.15 to 2.53), p value trend=0.002). Correlations of individual metabolites with UPF intake were moderately aligned with their associations with CRC risk (rho=0.50). N2, N2-dimethylguanosine, a marker of meat/poultry intake, was positively associated with CRC risk (1.96 (1.27 to 3.03)), while 21-deoxycortisol, related to cortisol biosynthesis, was inversely associated (0.59 (0.41 to 0.86)).
Conclusion
We developed a UPF metabolomic pattern. The pattern and several metabolites were associated with CRC risk, providing biological insights into potential pathways underlying the UPF-CRC relationship.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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