title: Collecting saliva by mail for genetic and cotinine analyses in participants recruited through the Internet.
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 alpha-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.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, CMU, 1 rue Michel-Servet, Geneva 4, CH-1211, Switzerland. jean-francois.etter@imsp.unige.ch
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Etter
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Neidhart
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malafosse
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bertrand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003367:Cotinine / Q000032:analysis*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011177:Postal Service; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D013048:Specimen Handling; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D003367:Cotinine