Evaluation of Saccharin and Resveratrol as Extrinsic Markers of Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplement Consumption in Healthy Women

BACKGROUND: Dietary supplements, like small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS), are used in intervention programs to prevent undernutrition among women and young children in low-income countries. An objective marker is needed to track consumption of supplements to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate saccharin and resveratrol as potential adherence markers for tracking recent consumption of a single serving of SQ-LNS in women. METHODS: Forty-seven healthy nonpregnant women 18–45 y of age were assigned to consume a single dose of SQ-LNS (20 g) containing either 10 mg sodium saccharin or 5 mg trans-resveratrol, under supervision. On the day before and for 2 d following SQ-LNS consumption, urine samples were collected each day for 24 h as 3 consecutive 4-h collections and one 12-h overnight collection. Urinary concentrations of saccharin and trans-resveratrol-3-O-sulfate, a resveratrol metabolite, were measured by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography interfaced to a mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization [UHPLC-(ESI-)MS/MS]. Urinary concentrations (μmol/L urine) of saccharin and trans-resveratrol-3-O-sulfate were plotted against time, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine the discriminative capacity of each compound, at each post-consumption time point compared with baseline, to detect recent consumption of SQ-LNS. Cutoff values to differentiate supplement consumption from nonconsumption of each marker were developed using the closest-to-(0,1)-corner cut-point approach. RESULTS: Forty-five participants were included in the analysis. Urinary concentrations of saccharin and trans-resveratrol-3-O-sulfate increased within 4 h of SQ-LNS consumption. Urinary concentration cutoff values for saccharin (13.4 µmol/L) and trans-resveratrol-3-O-sulfate (0.7 µmol/L) allowed for 78% and 89% sensitivity, respectively, and 100% specificity in detecting consumption of SQ-LNS within the first 12 h after consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Urinary concentrations of saccharin and trans-resveratrol-3-O-sulfate reflect consumption of SQ-LNS containing those compounds during the first 12 h post-consumption with high sensitivity and specificity in healthy women and may be useful objective adherence markers for tracking consumption of SQ-LNS.