Biomarkers are essential in nutrition research, however, their use is not standardised across the discipline. This publication tests criteria biomarkers should meet and provides a template to evaluate their utility in nutrition research.
Biomarkers are essential indicators of food or nutrient intake, nutritional status, health status or disease risk, however, the selection of appropriate biomarkers is tricky as detailed knowledge about their biological behaviours is required. A framework to guide researchers in the selection process may be helpful and as such, the authors set out to test a range of criteria appropriate for choosing the right biomarkers in order to provide a guidance document for marker selection. Thirteen markers from a broad range of nutrition research fields were evaluated against the criteria and a scoring system for markers and a guidance template for evaluation of their relative usefulness in nutrition research were developed.
Open access available here. Supplementary material is available here.
For more information about the Functional Foods Task Force, click here.