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Collecting Saliva by Mail for Genetic and Cotinine Analyses in Participants Recruited through the Internet

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Abstract

The authors assessed whether collection by mail of saliva and buccal cells for genetic analysis was feasible in participants recruited through the Internet. In 2003, 14,773 visitors of a smoking cessation website were invited by e-mail to take part in the study. Salivettes (plastic vials containing a cotton roll) were mailed to participants, for collection of saliva and buccal cells. Because of limited resources, the authors stopped recruitment when 392 participants (3% of 14,733) were registered. They received 315 saliva samples back (80% of 392). Salivary cotinine was analyzed in 145 daily smokers. Cotinine concentration could be assessed in 141 samples (97%) (range 0.7–899 ng/ml, median 260 ng/ml). DNA extraction was achieved in all the 285 samples in which it was attempted. Quality of DNA was assessed by optical density measurements and by polymerase chain reaction amplification of a gene coding for the α-4 nicotinic receptor, with the detection of a known polymorphism. Successful results were obtained in 235 samples (82% of 285). Thus collecting saliva by mail for cotinine and DNA analysis in participants recruited through the internet produced samples of good quality at a reasonable cost. This approach should be valuable for genetic epidemiology and pharmacogenetic research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, CMU, 1 rue Michel-Servet, Geneva 4, CH-1211, Switzerland

    Jean-François Etter

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland

    Elisabeth Neidhart & Alain Malafosse

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Elisabeth Neidhart, Sonia Bertrand & Daniel Bertrand

Authors
  1. Jean-François Etter
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  2. Elisabeth Neidhart
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  3. Sonia Bertrand
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  4. Alain Malafosse
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  5. Daniel Bertrand
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Correspondence to Jean-François Etter.

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Etter, JF., Neidhart, E., Bertrand, S. et al. Collecting Saliva by Mail for Genetic and Cotinine Analyses in Participants Recruited through the Internet. Eur J Epidemiol 20, 833–838 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-005-2148-7

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