Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar 18;16(6):878.
doi: 10.3390/nu16060878.

Nitrosyl-Heme and Heme Iron Intake from Processed Meats in Subjects from the EPIC-Spain Cohort

Lucía Rizzolo-Brime  1   2 , Andreu Farran-Codina  3 , Ricard Bou  4 , Leila Luján-Barroso  1   2   5 , Jose Ramón Quirós  6 , Pilar Amiano  7   8   9 , María José Sánchez  10   11   12 , Miguel Rodríguez-Barranco  10   11 , Marcela Guevara  12   13   14 , Conchi Moreno-Iribas  12   13   14 , Alba Gasque  13 , María-Dolores Chirlaque  7   15   16 , Sandra M Colorado-Yohar  7   15   17 , José María Huerta Castaño  7   15 , Antonio Agudo  1   2 , Paula Jakszyn  1   18
Affiliations

Nitrosyl-Heme and Heme Iron Intake from Processed Meats in Subjects from the EPIC-Spain Cohort

Lucía Rizzolo-Brime et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background: The consumption of processed meats (PMs) and red meats are linked to the likelihood of developing colorectal cancer. Various theories have been proposed to explain this connection, focusing on nitrosyl-heme and heme iron intake. We hypothesized that differences in nitrosyl-heme and heme iron intakes will be associated with various sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.

Methods: The study included 38,471 healthy volunteers (62% females) from five Spanish regions within the EPIC-Spain cohort. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) determined nitrosyl-heme and heme iron levels in the 39 most consumed PMs. Food intake was assessed using validated questionnaires in interviews. Nitrosyl-heme and heme iron intakes, adjusted for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), center, and energy intake, were expressed as geometric means due to their skewed distribution. Variance analysis identified foods explaining the variability of nitrosyl-heme and heme iron intakes.

Results: The estimated intakes were 528.6 µg/day for nitrosyl-heme and 1676.2 µg/day for heme iron. Significant differences in nitrosyl-heme intake were found by sex, center, energy, and education level. Heme iron intake varied significantly by sex, center, energy, and smoking status. "Jamón serrano" and "jamón cocido/jamón de York" had the highest intake values, while "morcilla asturiana" and "sangrecilla" were key sources of nitrosyl-heme and heme iron.

Conclusions: This is the first study to estimate levels of nitrosyl-heme intake directly in PMs for a large sample, revealing variations based on sex, BMI, smoking, and activity. Its data aids future exposure estimations in diverse populations.

Keywords: dietary intake; heme iron; meat derivatives; nitrosyl-heme; nitrosylation; processed meat.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Battaglia Richi E., Baumer B., Conrad B., Darioli R., Schmid A., Keller U. Health Risks Associated with Meat Consumption: A Review of Epidemiological Studies. Int. J. Vitam. Nutr. Res. 2015;85:70–78. doi: 10.1024/0300-9831/a000224. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jakszyn P., Luján-Barroso L., Agudo A., Bueno-de-Mesquita H.B., Molina E., Sánchez M.J., Fonseca-Nunes A., Siersema P.D., Matiello A., Tumino R., et al. Meat and heme iron intake and esophageal adenocarcinoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. Int. J. Cancer. 2013;133:2744–2750. doi: 10.1002/ijc.28291. - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Cancer Research Fund AI for CR Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Colorectal Cancer. Continuous Update Project Expert Report. 2018. [(accessed on 21 August 2023)]. Available online: https://www.wcrf.org/diet-activity-and-cancer/
    1. Bouvard V., Loomis D., Guyton K.Z., Grosse Y., Ghissassi F.E., Benbrahim-Tallaa L., Guha N., Mattock H., Straif K., International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16:1599–1600. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00444-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans . Red Meat and Processed Meat. International Agency for Research on Cancer; Lyon, France: 2018. [(accessed on 10 October 2023)]. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Available online: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507971/