Association between lifestyle, dietary, reproductive, and anthropometric factors and circulating 27-hydroxycholesterol in EPIC-Heidelberg.

PURPOSE

Given that 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC) is the first identified endogenous selective estrogen receptor modulator, the aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which dietary or lifestyle factors impact circulating 27HC concentrations in a large-scale setting.

METHODS

This cross-sectional analysis included 1,036 women aged 35-65 years who served as controls in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Heidelberg breast cancer case-control study. Circulating 27HC was quantified in serum using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Generalized linear models were used to investigate the association between 27HC concentrations and dietary habits, and lifestyle, reproductive, and anthropometric factors.

RESULTS

Higher concentrations of 27HC were observed among postmenopausal relative to premenopausal women (geometric mean 200.5 vs. 188.4 nM, p = 0.03), whereas women reporting ever full-term pregnancy had lower concentrations of 27HC relative to never (191.4 vs. 198.6; p = 0.03). Significant trends were observed showing higher concentrations with relatively high levels of physical activity (p = 0.03) and alcohol consumption (p = 0.01), and women currently smoking at blood collection (p < 0.01). Of the investigated dietary factors, starch (p < 0.01) and thiamine (p < 0.01) intakes were inversely associated with 27HC. Circulating lipid concentrations were positively associated with 27HC concentrations (all p < 0.01). No significant associations were found between 27HC and factors including age at blood collection, body mass index, or use of hormone therapy or cholesterol-lowering medications.

CONCLUSION

27HC is of increasing interest for multiple chronic disease pathways. Despite significant associations found between circulating 27HC and dietary habits, reproductive factors, and modifiable lifestyle factors, circulating cholesterol, mostly low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, accounted for the majority of the variability in circulating 27HC.