Etter Jean-François, Neidhart Elisabeth, Bertrand Sonia, Malafosse Alain, Bertrand Daniel
Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, CMU, 1 rue Michel-Servet, Geneva 4, CH-1211, Switzerland.
Eur J Epidemiol. 2005;20(10):833-8. doi: 10.1007/s10654-005-2148-7.
The authors assessed whether collection by mail of saliva and buccal cells for genetic analysis was feasible in participants recruited through the Internet. In 2003, 14,773 visitors of a smoking cessation website were invited by e-mail to take part in the study. Salivettes (plastic vials containing a cotton roll) were mailed to participants, for collection of saliva and buccal cells. Because of limited resources, the authors stopped recruitment when 392 participants (3% of 14,733) were registered. They received 315 saliva samples back (80% of 392). Salivary cotinine was analyzed in 145 daily smokers. Cotinine concentration could be assessed in 141 samples (97%) (range 0.7-899 ng/ml, median 260 ng/ml). DNA extraction was achieved in all the 285 samples in which it was attempted. Quality of DNA was assessed by optical density measurements and by polymerase chain reaction amplification of a gene coding for the alpha-4 nicotinic receptor, with the detection of a known polymorphism. Successful results were obtained in 235 samples (82% of 285). Thus collecting saliva by mail for cotinine and DNA analysis in participants recruited through the internet produced samples of good quality at a reasonable cost. This approach should be valuable for genetic epidemiology and pharmacogenetic research.
作者评估了通过邮件收集唾液和颊细胞用于基因分析，对于通过互联网招募的参与者是否可行。2003年，通过电子邮件邀请了一个戒烟网站的14773名访客参与该研究。将唾液采集管（装有棉卷的塑料瓶）邮寄给参与者，用于收集唾液和颊细胞。由于资源有限，当392名参与者（占14733人的3%）注册后，作者停止了招募。他们收到了315份唾液样本（占392人的80%）。对145名每日吸烟者的唾液可替宁进行了分析。141份样本（97%）能够评估可替宁浓度（范围为0.7 - 899 ng/ml，中位数为260 ng/ml）。在所有尝试进行DNA提取的285份样本中均成功提取。通过光密度测量以及对编码α-4烟碱受体的基因进行聚合酶链反应扩增并检测已知多态性来评估DNA质量。235份样本（占285份的82%）获得了成功结果。因此，通过邮件收集唾液用于通过互联网招募的参与者的可替宁和DNA分析，能够以合理成本获得高质量样本。这种方法对于遗传流行病学和药物遗传学研究应具有重要价值。
