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Table 2 Associations between concentrations of 21 plasma or serum amino acids and colorectal cancer risk in the EPIC nested case-control discovery and UK Biobank replication cohorts

From: Circulating amino acid levels and colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and UK Biobank cohorts

Amino acid (by decreasing blood concentration)

Colorectal cancer cases a

OR/HR per SD concentration (95% CI) b

FDR P-value

OR/HR (95% CI) for Q2 bc

OR/HR (95% CI) for Q3 bc

OR/HR (95% CI) for Q4 bc

P-trend d

Discovery cohort (EPIC nested case-control study)

       

 Glutamine

654

0.85 (0.75–0.97)

0.08

0.84 (0.61–1.16)

0.72 (0.52–1.01)

0.65 (0.46–0.92)

0.01

 Alanine

354

1.04 (0.89–1.22)

0.75

1.04 (0.68–1.64)

1.06 (0.68–1.64)

1.24 (0.79–1.95)

0.47

 Glycine

654

0.89 (0.75–1.05)

0.45

0.99 (0.70–1.40)

0.82 (0.54–1.24)

0.73 (0.46–1.16)

0.08

 Valine

654

0.92 (0.78–1.08)

0.47

0.98 (0.69–1.38)

0.76 (0.52–1.11)

0.91 (0.58–1.41)

0.45

 Lysine

354

0.78 (0.66–0.93)

0.05

0.82 (0.53–1.28)

0.83 (0.53–1.31)

0.51 (0.31–0.83)

0.008

 Proline

654

1.06 (0.93–1.20)

0.48

1.02 (0.74–1.42)

1.15 (0.82–1.62)

1.05 (0.72–1.52)

0.73

 Serine

654

0.89 (0.73–1.08)

0.45

0.83 (0.60–1.16)

0.73 (0.49–1.09)

0.61 (0.37–1.01)

0.05

 Leucine

354

0.79 (0.64–0.98)

0.15

0.99 (0.64–1.54)

0.72 (0.44–1.21)

0.75 (0.44–1.29)

0.20

 Threonine

654

0.96 (0.85–1.09)

0.60

1.14 (0.83–1.56)

0.85 (0.61–1.19)

0.97 (0.68–1.37)

0.50

 Ornithine

654

0.88 (0.69–1.13)

0.47

0.90 (0.63–1.28)

0.63 (0.35–1.15)

0.65 (0.33–1.28)

0.73

 Arginine

654

1.02 (0.83–1.24)

0.87

1.18 (0.85–1.65)

0.93 (0.59–1.45)

0.98 (0.57–1.68)

0.91

 Tyrosine

654

0.90 (0.76–1.06)

0.45

0.92 (0.67–1.27)

0.89 (0.61–1.28)

0.84 (0.54–1.32)

0.41

 Histidine

654

0.80 (0.69–0.92)

0.03

0.79 (0.57–1.09)

0.59 (0.41–0.84)

0.61 (0.42–0.89)

0.005

 Tryptophan

654

0.85 (0.64–1.12)

0.45

0.62 (0.43–0.88)

0.53 (0.29–0.96)

0.55 (0.27–1.13)

0.07

 Isoleucine

354

0.92 (0.75–1.14)

0.64

0.93 (0.59–1.46)

0.75 (0.45–1.23)

0.85 (0.49–1.47)

0.39

 Phenylalanine

354

0.89 (0.77–1.03)

0.45

1.24 (0.89–1.74)

0.97 (0.68–1.39)

0.86 (0.58–1.28)

0.13

 Glutamate

354

1.10 (0.85–1.43)

0.64

1.71 (1.04–2.81)

2.02 (1.16–3.52)

1.82 (0.96–3.45)

0.19

 Asparagine

354

1.08 (0.91–1.28)

0.58

1.10 (0.70–1.72)

1.40 (0.89–2.20)

0.93 (0.57–1.53)

0.91

 Methionine

654

0.88 (0.69–1.13)

0.47

0.90 (0.63–1.28)

0.63 (0.35–1.15)

0.65 (0.33–1.28)

0.20

 Citrulline

354

1.15 (0.97–1.37)

0.40

0.60 (0.37–0.97)

1.06 (0.69–1.64)

1.11 (0.69–1.78)

0.36

 Aspartate e

354

0.99 (0.81–1.21)

0.91

-

-

-

-

Replication cohort (UK Biobank cohort)

       

 Glutamine

1221

0.95 (0.89–1.01)

0.09

0.89 (0.76–1.05)

0.99 (0.84–1.16)

0.85 (0.72–1.00)

0.12

 Histidine

1221

0.93 (0.87–0.99)

0.03

1.01 (0.86–1.17)

0.76 (0.65–0.90)

0.86 (0.73–1.01)

0.008

  1. OR, odds ratio; HR, hazard ratio; FDR, false discovery rate; Q, quartile. Estimates for which 95% CI do not include 1 are given in bold text
  2. a In EPIC, amino acids measured using the Biocrates AbsoluteIDQTM p180 kit were measured in 354 cases and 354 controls only
  3. b Multivariable models were adjusted for smoking status (never, former, and current smoker), alcohol use (never, former, only at recruitment, and lifetime drinker), physical activity at recruitment (inactive, moderately inactive, moderately active, active) and body mass index (<25, 25–30, and >30 kg/m2). In UK Biobank, categories differed slightly for total physical activity (<10, 10–20, 20–40, 40–60, >60 metabolic equivalent of task [MET] h/week), alcohol consumption frequency (never, special occasions only, 1–3 times/month, 1–2 times per week, 3–4 times/week, daily or almost daily, unknown/prefer not to answer), and were also adjusted for family history of colorectal cancer (yes/no) and time since last meal (hours)
  4. c Q1 of amino acid concentrations was considered the referent group. Inner quartile cut points were determined by metabolite concentrations in controls only
  5. d Calculated by the replacement of continuous data by the median values of concentration quartiles in mode
  6. e The categorical analysis was not performed due to a high proportion of missing values
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BMC Medicine

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