Examining causal relationships between educational attainment and type 2 diabetes using genetic analysis: findings from the EPIC-InterAct study through Mendelian randomisation.

Introduction: Observational studies have shown that more educated people are at lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, robust study designs are needed to investigate the likelihood that such a relationship is causal. This study used genetic instruments for education to estimate the effect of education on T2D using the Mendelian randomisation (MR) approach.

Circulating inflammatory biomarkers, adipokines and breast cancer risk-a case-control study nested within the EPIC cohort.

Background: Inflammation has been hypothesized to play a role in the development and progression of breast cancer and might differently impact breast cancer risk among pre and postmenopausal women. We performed a nested case-control study to examine whether pre-diagnostic circulating concentrations of adiponectin, leptin, c-reactive protein (CRP), tumour necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ and 6 interleukins were associated with breast cancer risk, overall and by menopausal status.

Methods: Pre-diagnostic levels of inflammatory biomarkers were measured in plasma from 1558 case-control pairs from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.

Comparing Calculated Nutrient Intakes Using Different Food Composition Databases: Results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Cohort.

This study aimed to compare calculated nutrient intakes from two different food composition databases using data from the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Dietary intake data of the EPIC cohort was recently matched to 150 food components from the U.S.

Mediation analysis of the alcohol-postmenopausal breast cancer relationship by sex hormones in the EPIC cohort.

Alcohol consumption is associated with higher risk of breast cancer (BC); however, the biological mechanisms underlying this association are not fully elucidated, particularly the extent to which this relationship is mediated by sex hormone levels. Circulating concentrations of estradiol, testosterone, their free fractions and sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG), were examined in 430 incident BC cases and 645 matched controls among alcohol-consuming postmenopausal women nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Mediation analysis was applied to assess whether individual hormone levels mediated the relationship between alcohol intake and BC risk.

Fiber intake modulates the association of alcohol intake with breast cancer.

Alcohol intake has been related to an increased risk of breast cancer (BC) while dietary fiber intake has been inversely associated to BC risk. A beneficial effect of fibers on ethanol carcinogenesis through their impact on estrogen levels is still controversial. We investigated the role of dietary fiber as a modifying factor of the association of alcohol and BC using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Challenges in estimating the validity of dietary acrylamide measurements.

Background: Acrylamide is a chemical compound present in tobacco smoke and food, classified as a probable human carcinogen and a known human neurotoxin. Acrylamide is formed in foods, typically carbohydrate-rich and protein-poor plant foods, during high-temperature cooking or other thermal processing. The objectives of this study were to compare dietary estimates of acrylamide from questionnaires (DQ) and 24-h recalls (R) with levels of acrylamide adduct (AA) in haemoglobin.

Menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer risk: impact of different treatments. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is characterized by use of different constituents, regimens and routes of administration. We investigated the association between the use of different types of MHT and breast cancer risk in the EPIC cohort study. The analysis is based on data from 133,744 postmenopausal women.

Intake of fried foods is associated with obesity in the cohort of Spanish adults from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Background: Consumption of fried food has been suggested to promote obesity, but this association has seldom been studied.

Objective: We aimed to assess the association of energy intake from fried food with general and central obesity in Spain, a Mediterranean country where frying with oil is a traditional cooking procedure.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study of 33 542 Spanish persons aged 29-69 y who were participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition between 1992 and 1996.