Targeted plasma proteomics identifies a novel, robust association between cornulin and Swedish moist snuff.

Sundkvist A, Myte R, Bodén S, Enroth S, Gyllensten U, Harlid S, van Guelpen B

Sci Rep 8 (1) 2320 [2018-02-02; online 2018-02-02]

Lifestyle behaviors are believed to influence the body's inflammatory state. Chronic low-grade inflammation contributes to the development of major non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Inflammation may thus be an important link between lifestyle and disease. We evaluated self-reported physical activity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption in relation to plasma levels of 160 validated inflammatory and cancer biomarkers. The study included 138 participants from a population-based cohort, all with repeated sampling of plasma and data ten years apart, allowing consideration of both intra- and inter-individual variation. Of 17 relationships identified, the strongest was an independent, positive association between cornulin (CRNN) and Swedish moist snuff (snus) use. We replicated the finding in a second cohort of 501 individuals, in which a dose-response relationship was also observed. Snus explained approximately one fifth of the variance in CRNN levels in both sample sets (18% and 23%). In conclusion, we identified a novel, independent, dose-dependent association between CRNN and snus use. Further study is warranted, to evaluate the performance of CRNN as a potential snus biomarker. The putative importance of lifestyle behaviors on a wide range of protein biomarkers illustrates the need for more personalized biomarker cut-offs.

PubMed 29396534

DOI 10.1038/s41598-018-20794-3

Crossref 10.1038/s41598-018-20794-3

pmc: PMC5797131
pii: 10.1038/s41598-018-20794-3