The CONSTANCES Cohort Biobank: An Open Tool for Research in Epidemiology and Prevention of Diseases

Abstract

“General-purpose cohorts” in epidemiology and public health are designed to cover a broad scope of determinants and outcomes, in order to answer several research questions, including those not defined at study inception. In this context, the general objective of the CONSTANCES project is to set up a large population-based cohort that will contribute to the development of epidemiological research by hosting ancillary projects on a wide range of scientific domains, and to provide public health information. CONSTANCES was designed as a randomly selected sample of French adults aged 18–69 years at study inception; 202,045 subjects were included over an 8-year period. At inclusion, the selected participants are invited to attend one of the 24 participating Health Prevention Centers (HPCs) for a comprehensive health examination. The follow-up includes a yearly self-administered questionnaire, and a periodic visit to an HPC. Procedures have been developed to use the national healthcare databases to allow identification and validation of diseases over the follow-up. The biological collection (serum, lithium heparinized plasma, EDTA plasma, urine and buffy coat) began gradually in June 2018. At the end of the inclusions, specimens from 83,000 donors will have been collected. Specimens are collected according to a standardized protocol, identical in all recruitment centers. All operations relating to bio-banking have been entrusted by Inserm to the Integrated Biobank of Luxembourg (IBBL). A quality management system has been put in place. Particular attention has been paid to the traceability of all operations. The nature of the biological samples stored has been deliberately limited due to the economic and organizational constraints of the inclusion centers. Some research works may require specific collection conditions, and can be developed on request for a limited number of subjects and in specially trained centers. The biological specimens that are collected will allow for a large spectrum of biomarkers studies and genetic and epigenetic markers through candidate or agnostic approaches. By linking the extensive data on personal, lifestyle, environmental, occupational and social factors with the biomarker data, the CONSTANCES cohort offers the opportunity to study the interplays between these factors using an integrative approach and state-of-the-art methods.