The life sciences are currently being transformed by an unprecedented wave of developments in molecular analysis, which include important advances in instrumental analysis as well as biocomputing. In light of the central role played by metabolism in nutrition, metabolomics is rapidly being established as a key analytical tool in human nutritional studies. Consequently, an increasing number of nutritionists integrate metabolomics into their study designs. Within this dynamic landscape, the potential of nutritional metabolomics (nutrimetabolomics) to be translated into a science, which can impact on health policies, still needs to be realized. A key element to reach this goal is the ability of the research community to join, to collectively make the best use of the potential offered by nutritional metabolomics. This article, therefore, provides a methodological description of nutritional metabolomics that reflects on the state-of-the-art techniques used in the laboratories of the Food Biomarker Alliance (funded by the European Joint Programming Initiative "A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life" (JPI HDHL)) as well as points of reflections to harmonize this field. It is not intended to be exhaustive but rather to present a pragmatic guidance on metabolomic methodologies, providing readers with useful "tips and tricks" along the analytical workflow.

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Exposure of DNA to endo- and exogenous DNA binding chemicals can result in the formation of DNA adducts and is believed to be the first step in chemically induced carcinogenesis. DNA adductomics is a relatively new field of research which studies the formation of known and unknown DNA adducts in DNA due to exposure to genotoxic chemicals. In this study, a new UHPLC-HRMS(/MS)-based DNA adduct detection method was developed and validated. Four targeted DNA adducts, which all have been linked to dietary genotoxicity, were included in the described method; O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)-MeG), O(6)-carboxymethylguanine (O(6)-CMG), pyrimidopurinone (M1G) and methylhydroxypropanoguanine (CroG). As a supplementary tool for DNA adductomics, a DNA adduct database, which currently contains 123 different diet-related DNA adducts, was constructed. By means of the newly developed method and database, all 4 targeted DNA adducts and 32 untargeted DNA adducts could be detected in different DNA samples. The obtained results clearly demonstrate the merit of the described method for both targeted and untargeted DNA adduct detection in vitro and in vivo, whilst the diet-related DNA adduct database can distinctly facilitate data interpretation.

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. While white meats and fish are generally associated with positive health outcomes, red and especially processed meats have been associated with colorectal cancer and other diseases. The contribution of these foods to the development or prevention of chronic diseases is still not fully elucidated. One of the main problems is the difficulty in properly evaluating meat intake, as the existing self-reporting tools for dietary assessment may be imprecise and therefore affected by systematic and random errors. Dietary biomarkers measured in biological fluids have been proposed as possible objective measurements of the actual intake of specific foods and as a support for classical assessment methods. Good biomarkers for meat intake should reflect total dietary intake of meat, independent of source or processing and should be able to differentiate meat consumption from that of other protein-rich foods; alternatively, meat intake biomarkers should be specific to each of the different meat sources (e.g., red vs. white; fish, bird, or mammal) and/or cooking methods. In this paper, we present a systematic investigation of the scientific literature while providing a comprehensive overview of the possible biomarker(s) for the intake of different types of meat, including fish and shellfish, and processed and heated meats according to published guidelines for biomarker reviews (BFIrev). The most promising biomarkers are further validated for their usefulness for dietary assessment by published validation criteria.

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Epidemiological research has demonstrated that the consumption of red meat is an important risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. However, there is no holistic insight in the (by-) products of meat digestion that may contribute to disease development. To address this hiatus, an untargeted mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics approach was used to create red versus white meat associated metabolic fingerprints following in vitro colonic digestion using the fecal inocula of ten healthy volunteers. Twenty-two metabolites were unequivocally associated with simulated colonic digestion of red meat. Several of these metabolites could mechanistically be linked to red meat-associated pathways including N’-formylkynurenine, kynurenine and kynurenic acid (all involved in tryptophan metabolism), the oxidative stress marker dityrosine, and 3-dehydroxycarnitine. In conclusion, the used MS-based metabolomics platform proved to be a powerful platform for detection of specific metabolites that improve the understanding of the causal relationship between red meat consumption and associated diseases.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer type in the world. Epidemiological research has demonstrated that both red and processed meat consumption significantly contribute to CRC risk. In this study, red meat toxicity was investigated by means of simulated gastrointestinal conditions, malondialdehyde (MDA) analysis and UHPLC-(HR)MS(/MS) based DNA adductomics. Since dairy products with high calcium content are associated with a decreased CRC-risk, the possible CRC-protective effects of calcium were assessed as well. The obtained results confirmed the earlier reported finding that heme-rich meat stimulates lipid peroxidation and O-carboxymethylguanine (O-CMG) DNA adduct formation during digestion. Calcium carbonate (CaCO) supplementation resulted in both toxic and anti-toxic effects; stimulation of O-CMG production, but reduction of MDA formation. DNA adductome mapping of meat digests revealed a significant interindividual variability. The observed DNA adduct profile also differed according to the digested meat type, uncovering different putative DNA adducts that seem to be associated with digestion of beef or chicken with or without supplemented CaCO. Formamidopyrimidine-adenine was found to be discriminative for meat digests without added CaCO, carboxyethylcytosine was significantly higher in beef digests and methoxymethylcytosine (or its hydroxyethylcytosine isomer) was found to be lower in meat digests supplemented with CaCO. These results demonstrate that DNA adduct formation may be involved in the pathway that links red meat digestion to CRC promotion. In addition, the possible CRC-protective attributes of calcium through anti-oxidant actions could be documented.

The consumption of red meat has been linked to an increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. One of the major hypotheses states that heme iron (present in red meat) stimulates the formation of genotoxic N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) and lipid peroxidation products (LPOs). By means of DNA adductomics, chemically induced DNA adduct formation can be mapped in relation to e.g. dietary exposures. In this study, this state-of-the-art methodology was used to investigate alkylation and (lipid per)oxidation induced DNA adduct formation in in vitro red vs. white meat digests. In doing so, 90 alkylation and (lipid per)oxidation induced DNA adduct types could be (tentatively) identified. Overall, 12 NOC- and/or LPO-related DNA adduct types, i.e. dimethyl-T (or ethyl-T), hydroxymethyl-T, tetramethyl-T, methylguanine (MeG), guanidinohydantoin, hydroxybutyl-C, hydroxymethylhydantoin, malondialdehyde-x3-C, O-carboxymethylguanine, hydroxyethyl-T, carboxyethyl-T and 3,N-etheno-C were singled out as potential heme-rich meat digestion markers. The retrieval of these DNA adduct markers is in support of the heme, NOC and LPO hypotheses, suggesting that DNA adduct formation may indeed contribute to red meat related CRC risk.