Study population
The 2,927 non-cancerous adults included in this study consisted of controls from our previously case-control studies nested in the Shanghai Women’s Health Study (SWHS) and Shanghai Men’s Health Study (SMHS), two ongoing prospective cohort studies conducted in Shanghai, China. Mortality data and modifiable factors associated with urinary PGE-M were obtained from the parent cohort studies. The parent studies were approved by the institutional review boards of all participating institutions. Detailed descriptions of study design and methods have been published elsewhere(14,15). Briefly, participants were recruited from typical urban communities in Shanghai, China. The SWHS recruited 74,941 women aged 40–70 years from 1996 to 2000 with a 92.7% participation rate in the baseline survey. The SMHS recruited 61,480 men aged 40–74 years from 2002 to 2006 with a 74.0% participation rate in the baseline survey. At the time of enrollment, each participant signed consent and completed an in-person survey conducted by trained interviewers. Of the study participants, 65,754 (88%) women and 54,769 (89%) men provided a spot urine sample. Urine samples were collected into a sterilized cup containing 125 mg ascorbic acid to prevent oxidation of labile metabolites. After collection, the samples were kept in a portable Styrofoam box with ice packs (at approximately 0–40C) and processed within 6 hours for long term storage at -700C. All participants also filled out a biospecimen collection form at the time of sample collection, which included the date and time of sample collection, time of last meal, and use of any medications during the previous week.
Controls of our previous reported nested case-control studies were randomly selected from cohort members and individually matched to each case by age at sample collection (within 2 years), sex, time of sample collection (morning or afternoon), date of sample collection (within 1 month), and time interval since last meal (within 2 hours). Controls were free of cancer at the time of cancer diagnosis of their corresponding case. The total sample from the previous nested case-control studies consisted of 5,726 adults, including 2,799 cancer cases (537 lung, 275 pancreatic, 368 stomach, 603 colorectal, 597 breast, 120 ovarian, 160 corpus uteri, and 88 other cancers) and 2,927 non-cancer controls. We excluded all cancer cases from this study. Among the remaining 2,927 non-cancer individuals, 2,276 women and 651 men were participants from the SWHS and the SMHS respectively.
Urinary PGE-M measurement
Urinary PGE-M (11-α-hydroxy-9,15-dioxo-2,3,4,5-tetranor-prostane-1,20-dioic acid) level was measured using a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric method as described in previous studies (2,8–13). Briefly, 0.75 mL urine was acidified to pH 3 with HCl and endogenous PGE-M was then converted to the O-methyloxime derivative by treatment with methyloxime HCl. The methoximated PGE-M was extracted, applied to a C-18 Sep-Pak, and eluted with ethyl acetate. Liquid chromatography was conducted on a Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C18 column attached to a ThermoFinnigan Surveyor MS Pump (Thermo Finnigan). For endogenous PGE-M, the predominant product ion m/z 336 representing [M-(OCH3 + H2O)]− and the analogous ion, m/z 339 [(M-OC[2H3] + H2O)]− for the deuterated internal standard, was monitored in the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. Quantification of endogenous PGE-M used the ratio of the mass chromatogram peak areas of the m/z 336 and m/z 339 ions. The lower limit of detection of PGE-M was in the range of 40 pg, approximately 100-fold below levels in normal human urine. The coefficients of variation varied from 2.8% to 10.8% across the studies for samples analyzed within batches. Urinary creatinine levels were measured using a test kit from Sigma Company. The PGE-M levels were reported as ng PGE-M/mg creatinine.
Laboratory staff was blinded to the case–control status of urine samples and the identity of quality control samples included in the studies.
Outcome ascertainment
Death information was obtained through the follow-up surveys and by linkage to the database of the Shanghai Death Registry. The underlying cause of each death was assigned according to the international classification of diseases (9th version). The end date of the observation in this analysis was set as the date of death for deceased cohort members or the date of the last follow-up or June 30, 2016 for those who were still alive, half a year ahead of the last annual linkage with the Shanghai Death Registry, whichever was earlier. Cause-specific mortality categories were grouped according to the ICD-9 codes and were classified as diabetes (ICD-9 250), diseases of circulatory system (ICD-9 401-459), and all other causes.
Statistical analyses
The distribution of urinary creatinine-adjusted PGE-M levels was skewed to the high values and thus log-transformation was used to improve the normality. We used linear regression models to evaluate changes of log-transformed PGE-M levels by selected demographic or lifestyle factors and medication use during the previous week of sample collection. Thus, the exponential of regression coefficients represents the ratio of geometric means for categorical variables as compared with the reference group or for each unit increment of a continuous variable. The selected covariates were included in the same linear models for mutual adjustment.
The hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of urinary PGE-M levels and subsequent overall or cause-specific mortalities were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models stratified by batches of urinary PGE-M assay. We used the age as the time scale with left truncation at age of sample collection. The proportional hazards assumption was evaluated with the Schoenfeld residuals. We used the restricted cubic spline function for urinary PGE-M levels to examine the linearity of its association with the mortalities(16). The cause-specific mortality was analyzed in the competing risks context using the cause-specific hazards functions approach(17). Potential confounders, including age at sample collection, education levels, income, use of NSAID or antibiotics one week before urinary sample collection, alcohol drinking status (ever/never), smoking pack-years, BMI and WHR, were included in the regression models for adjustment.