The Dietary Biomarkers Development Consortium: An initiative for discovery and validation of dietary biomarkers for precision nutrition

Authors: CHAKRABORTY, HRISHIKESH - Duke University School Of Medicine; SUN, QI - Harvard Medical School; BHUPATHIRAJU, SHILPA - Harvard Medical School; SCHENK, JEANNETTE - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; MISHCHUK, DARYA - University Of California, Davis; BAIN, JAMES - Duke University School Of Medicine; HE, XUAN - University Of California, Davis; Sun, Jianghao; Harnly, James; SIMMONS, WILLIAM - Duke University School Of Medicine; RAFTERY, DANIEL - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; LIMING, LIANG - Harvard University; Newman, John; FIEHN, OLIVER - University Of California, Davis; CLISH, CLARY - Massachusetts Institute Of Technology; LAMPE, JOHANNA - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Bennett, Brian; NAVARRO, SANDI - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; WANG, YING - American Cancer Society; ZHENG, CHENG - University Of Nebraska; MOSSAVAR-RAHMANI, YASMIN - Albert Einstein College Of Medicine; MCCULLOUGH, MARJORIE - American Cancer Society; HUANG, YING - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; SHOJAIE, ALI - University Of Washington; ZHU, WENTAO - University Of Washington School Of Medicine; DJUKOVIC, DANIJEL - University Of Washington School Of Medicine; SACKS, FRANK - Harvard University; WILLIAMS, JONATHAN - Harvard University; STEINBERG, FRANCENE - University Of California, Davis; ADAMS, SEAN - University Of California, Davis; HU, FRANK - Harvard University; NEUHOUSER, MARIAN - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; SLUPSKY, CAROLYN - University Of California, Davis; MARUVADA, PADMA - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)

Submitted to: Current Developments in Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/24/2025
Publication Date: 4/5/2025
Citation: Chakraborty, H., Sun, Q., Bhupathiraju, S.N., Schenk, J.M., Mishchuk, D.O., Bain, J.R., He, X., Sun, J., Harnly, J.M., Simmons, W., Raftery, D., Liming, L., Newman, J.W., Fiehn, O., Clish, C.B., Lampe, J., Bennett, B.J., Navarro, S.L., Wang, Y., Zheng, C., Mossavar-Rahmani, Y., McCullough, M.L., Huang, Y., Shojaie, A., Zhu, W., Djukovic, D., Sacks, F., Williams, J., Steinberg, F.M., Adams, S.H., Hu, F.B., Neuhouser, M.L., Slupsky, C., Maruvada, P. 2025. The Dietary Biomarkers Development Consortium: An initiative for discovery and validation of dietary biomarkers for precision nutrition. Current Developments in Nutrition. 9(5). Article 107435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107435.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107435

Interpretive Summary: Objective biomarkers which can be measured to reliably reflect the consumption of foods and diet patterns are an important tool for assessing associations between diet and health. Advances in analytical chemistry simultaneously measuring vast numbers of compounds in small samples coupled with feeding trials and modern "big data" mining approaches are being used to search for compounds that are sensitive and specific biomarkers of dietary exposure. The Dietary Biomarkers Development Consortium (DBDC) is leading the first major United States effort to improve dietary assessment through the discovery and validation of biomarkers for foods. Compounds selected as biomarkers will be: 1) shown to increase in blood and/or urine as the amount of food ingested increases; 2) shown to be identified in the plasma or urine of individuals known to have consumed the specific food as part of their diet; 3) evaluated as indicators of habitual diet in accordance with current questionaire-based assessments. This article discusses the DBDC’s organizational infrastructure, study design, laboratory methods, and strategies for dietary biomarker discovery and validation.

Technical Abstract: Diet is a complex exposure that affects health across the lifespan. Objective biomarkers that can reliably reflect the intake of nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns with sufficient accuracy are an important tool for assessing diet. Advances in metabolomics, coupled with feeding trials and high-dimensional biostatistics analyses, pave the road for discovering novel food-borne compounds that can serve as sensitive and specific biomarkers of specific foods. The Dietary Biomarkers Development Consortium (DBDC) is leading the first major effort to improve dietary assessment through the discovery and validation of biomarkers for foods in the typical United States (U.S.) diet. To achieve this goal, a three-phase approach will be implemented to identify, evaluate, and validate candidate food biomarkers. In Phase 1, three controlled feeding trials will be conducted, administering test foods in pre-specified amounts to healthy participants, followed by metabolomic profiling of blood and urine samples collected during the feeding trials to prioritize candidate compounds. Data from these studies will be used to collectively characterize the pharmacokinetic parameters and dose-responsiveness of candidate food biomarkers with the ultimate goal of identifying chemical markers associated with the intake of specific foods. In Phase 2, the performance of candidate food biomarkers identified in Phase 1 will be evaluated using controlled feeding studies based on healthy dietary patterns. In Phase 3, the validity of candidate biomarkers to predict recent and habitual consumption will be evaluated using independent observational settings. Data generated during all study phases will be archived into a publicly accessible database as a resource for the research community. The DBDC aims to significantly expand the list of validated biomarkers of foods important to the U.S. diet and to advance understanding of how diet influences human health. This article discusses the DBDC organizational infrastructure, study designs, and strategies for dietary biomarker discovery and validation.