What Technological and Economic Elements Must be Addressed to Support the Affordability, Accessibility, and Desirability of Alternative Proteins in LMIC?

Populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) typically consume less than the recommended daily amount of protein. Alternative protein (AP) sources could help combat malnutrition, but this requires careful consideration of elements needed to further establish AP products in LMIC. Key considerations include technological, nutritional, safety, social, and economic challenges. This perspective analyzes these considerations in achieving dietary diversity in LMIC, using a combination of traditional and novel protein sources with high nutritional value, namely, soy, mycoprotein, and cultivated meat. Technological approaches to modulate the technofunctionality and bitter off-tastes of plant-sourced proteins facilitate processing and ensure consumer acceptance. Economic considerations for inputs, infrastructure for production, and transportation represent key elements to scale up AP. Dietary diversification is indispensable and LMIC cannot rely on plant proteins alone to provide adequate protein intake sustainably. Investments in infrastructure and innovation are urgently needed to offer diverse sources of protein in LMIC.

An isotope dilution LC-MS/MS-based candidate reference method for the quantification of androstenedione in human serum and plasma.

The accurate measurement of androstenedione in human serum and plasma is required for steroid profiling to assure the appropriate diagnosis and differential diagnosis of hyperandrogenism. In this work, we introduce an isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) candidate reference measurement procedure for the quantification of androstenedione in human serum and plasma. The performance of the procedure enables its use in the evaluation and standardization of routine assays and for the evaluation of patient samples to ensure the traceability of individual patient results. As the primary standard, a certified reference material from NMIA (National Measurement Institute, Australia) was used. Additionally, a quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) method was developed for the value assignment of the primary reference material, which ensures the direct traceability to SI units, as well as the independence from the availability of reference materials. 13C3-labeled androstenedione was used as the internal standard. The introduced method allows the measurement of androstenedione in the range of 0.05-12 ng/mL, and the assay imprecision was found to be <2% between 5 and 12 ng/mL, 3.5% at 1.5 ng/mL, and 5.2% at 0.05 ng/mL, with an accuracy of 95-105% for the serum and 91-103% for the plasma matrix. The transferability to a second laboratory was validated by method comparison based on 112 patient samples. The comparison of the results obtained from the presented method and an LC-MS/MS routine assay, using 150 native patient samples, showed a good correlation with a bias of the routine method of ≤4.0%.