Cohort profile: the Food Chain Plus (FoCus) cohort

Area of Science:

• Metabolic research
• Population health
• Multi-omics

Background:

• Metabolic inflammation is a novel pathology requiring comprehensive characterization.
• The Food Chain Plus (FoCus) cohort was established in 2011 in Northern Germany to address this research gap.
• The cohort combines population-based and metabolic inflammation-focused recruitment strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively characterize metabolic inflammation through multi-omics data.
• To investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with metabolic inflammation in a defined population.
• To establish a longitudinal study for tracking disease progression and phenotype changes.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 1795 individuals from the Kiel region, Northern Germany, using a two-step approach.
• Collected extensive data including phenomics, microbiomics, metabolomics, genomics, metagenomics, nutrition, taste perception, and social network analysis.
• Conducted baseline data collection between 2011-2014, with a first follow-up in 2020 involving 820 subjects.

Main Results:

• The baseline cohort (2011-2014) comprised 1795 individuals (63% female, median age 52.0 years, median BMI 27.7 kg/m²).
• 14.1% of participants had type 2 diabetes mellitus at baseline.
• Type 2 diabetes was significantly more prevalent in the metabolic inflammation group (31.8%).

Conclusions:

• The FoCus cohort provides a rich, multi-omics dataset for studying metabolic inflammation in a Northern German population.
• Findings highlight the increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes in individuals with metabolic inflammation.
• The study is designed for longitudinal analysis to understand disease progression and related factors.