Biomarkers of fried food intake: a systematic review of in vivo studies†

Abstract

The purpose of this review was to evaluate the evidence of potential biomarkers of fried food intake in human and animal studies, assessing the study design, the biospecimens and the metabolomic approach used. Information about dietary and health biomarkers concerning fried food intake is limited, even though advanced databases exist for human and food metabolomes. The systematic search following the PRISMA protocol selected five articles comprising in vivo intervention studies in humans (n = 4) and in animals (n = 1). Study characteristics were: (a) urine was the most common biospecimen; (b) potato and meat were the most common fried food items; (c) non-targeted MS-metabolomics and lipidomics were the main approaches used. Current and previous research commonly address potential biomarkers of fried food intake by dietary surveys, which are subject to inaccuracies. Controlled intervention trials combined with advanced metabolomics technologies to investigate biomarkers in humans or animals are scarce, highlighting the need of efforts for a better comprehension of the mechanisms involved and the health effects of fried food consumption. Biomarkers of deep-fried and pan-fried food intake included short-chain fatty acids and amino acids. Acrolein and acrylamide derivatives in urine were common biomarkers of fried food intake. In conclusion, the number of published papers in this research subject shows that it remains largely uninvestigated. This is a timely subject due to the high appeal to the consumption of fried foods and the possible harmful health effects related to the products formed during frying. Future studies describing robust biomarkers of fried food intake will contribute to the understanding of health outcomes related to the consumption of fried food.