Laboratory Protocol And Development Of Biorepository For Epidemiological, Rural DERVAN Cohort Study In KONKAN Region Of India (DERVAN-2)

Background According to Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis the seeds of adult non communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension and cancer are sown in foetal life. DERVAN cohort is a longitudinal study launched recently in the KOKAN region of Western Indian state of Maharashtra. It plans to recruit more than 1500 adolescents girls aged (16-18y) as well as their parents. At base line it plans to measure various analytes in the blood, saliva and urine which together with additional data such as body composition, cognition, and socioeconomics will provide the baseline health status of adolescent girls. Since we plan to follow the subjects systematically for next 20 years where more biological samples are expected to be collected. Hence the development of biorepository forms a critical component of our study. We have measured biochemical, nutritional (micronutrients), hormones, trace elements in adolescent girls from longitudinal DERVAN cohort and setup biorepository. Methods: At base line 36 ml of blood, urine and saliva in fasting state are collected from girls. We are also collecting blood (20 ml), urine, saliva in random state from both the parents. In addition some analytes are measured immediately and remaining samples (30 aliquotes for girls, 12 aliquotes for each parent) are stored in -80oC freezer. All the samples are collected at research centre to ensure quality and longevity. External as well as internal quality control protocols are followed.Study recruitment began in June 2019. We have recruited 586 subjects upto March 2021. Bio repository has been setup for long term storage. Conclusion: The protocol adopted by us has been found to be working smoothly and can guide many researchers working in resource limited settings.