Abstract
The questioned reliability of 15:0, 17:0, and trans9-16:1 acids as biomarkers of dairy fat intake also questions the relationship between the intake of these products and their health effects. Two studies were conducted in the same geographical region. In an intervention study, volunteers followed a diet rich in dairy products followed by a diet without dairy products. Plasma and erythrocyte fatty acids (FA) were analyzed, and their correlations with dairy product intakes were tested. The FA biomarkers selected were validated in the Gipuzkoa cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) observational study. The correlation coefficients between plasma concentrations of iso16:0, iso17:0, trans11-18:1, cis9, trans11-18:2, and cis6-18:1 and the dairy fat ingested are similar in both studies, indicating that their concentration increases by 0.8 µmol/L per gram of dairy fat ingested. The biomarkers are positively related to plasma triglycerides (r = 0.324 and 0.204 in the intervention and observational studies, respectively) and total cholesterol (r = 0.459 and 0.382), but no correlation was found between the biomarkers and atherogenicity indexes. In conclusion, the sum of the plasma concentration of the selected FAs can be used as biomarkers of dairy product consumption. A linear relationship exists between their plasma concentrations and ruminant product intake. These biomarkers allow for obtaining consistent relationships between dairy intake and plasma biochemical parameters.