MRC Epidemiology UnitDevelopment and application of nutritional biomarker analysis
Team lead and contact
Albert Koulman, Head of Nutritional Biomarker Laboratory. Albert.Koulman@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk
About the laboratory
The Nutritional Biomarker Laboratory (NBL) develops innovative methods and approaches for the measurement of nutritional biomarkers, together with high quality measurements using well-established assays.
The laboratory has a wide range of technologies, from biochemical assays, immunoassays to liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.
The NBL is the lead laboratory for the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) and has a wide range of national and international collaborations. These range from mechanistic studies to population surveys in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and knowledge sharing, e.g. it is a partner in OpeN-Global, an open-access knowledge hub of nutritional biomarkers for global health.
Specialisms include:
- Red blood cell (RBC) and serum folate
- Vitamin D metabolites by LC-MS/MS
- Functional enzymatic markers of vitamin B1 and B2 status
Services
NBL can provide advice and assistance on:
- Protocol design (including nutritional biomarker selection)
- Sample collection and handling
- Nutritional biomarker and nutritional status analysis
- Method development and validation for novel nutritional biomarker measurement
- Interpretation and dissemination of results
Please contact us on kerry.jones@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk
We offer the following nutritional biomarker assays:
| Assay | Method | Analyte(s) |
| Vitamin B1 (thiamine) | HPLC ETK assay | ThDP, TMP, thiamine ETK activity coefficient |
| Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) | EGR assay | EGR activity coefficient |
| Vitamin B6 | HPLC | PLP and PA |
| Folate vitamers | LC-MS/MS | Includes folic acid and 5-MTHF |
| RBC folate | Microbiological assay | Total folate |
| Vitamin C | Fluorescence | Ascorbic acid |
| Active vitamin B12 | ELISA | Holotranscobalamin |
| Vitamin B12, folate, homocysteine | Immunoassay | As per assay list |
| Vitamin A | HPLC | Retinol and carotenoids |
| Vitamin E | HPLC | α- and γ-tocopherol |
| Carotenoids | HPLC | α−carotene, β−carotene, α−cryptoxanthin, β−cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin |
| Vitamin D (serum) | LC-MS/MS | 25-hydroxyvitamin D2/3 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D3 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 |
| Vitamin D (human milk) | LC-MS/MS | Vitamin D2, vitamin D3, 25-hydroxyvitamin D2/3 |
| Vitamin K | LC-MS/MS | Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) |
| Thyroglobulin | Immunoassay | Thyroglobulin (for iodine status) |
| Electrolytes | Ion-selective electrode | Na, K, Cl |
Additional capabilities
We have a clinical chemistry platform (Siemens Dimension) for the measurement of lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides), CRP, AGP, iron markers (e.g. ferritin) and other analytes. We can also offer chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassays for vitamin B12, folate, homocysteine and other tests using a Tosoh AIA-CL1200 – please enquire for details. Other capabilities include HbA1c (by Tosoh G11) and para-amino benzoic acid (PABA) by HPLC for the validation of 24 hour urine collection.
Staff
- Albert Koulman, Head of Nutritional Biomarker Laboratory
- Kerry Jones, Senior Nutritional Biomarker Specialist
- Sarah Meadows, Laboratory Manager, Chromatography
- Damon Parkington, Laboratory Manager, Chemistry
- Tabasum Tabasum, Laboratory Analyst
- Amanda McKillion, Laboratory Analyst
Former staff
- Auguste Boge, Research Administration
- Dr Larissa Richardson, Laboratory Co-ordinator
- Keith Summerhill, Laboratory Analyst
- Daniel Griffiths, Research Assistant
- Elise Orford, Laboratory Analyst
- Michelle Venables, Head of Stable Isotope Laboratory
Publications
See recent Nutritional Biomarkers team publications on the MRC Epidemiology Unit online publications database.