Institute of Food Research, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK.
Nutr Res Rev. 2001 Dec;14(2):295-316. doi: 10.1079/NRR200124.
Individuals have varying needs for minerals that are dependent, amongst other things, on their lifestyle, age and genetic makeup. Knowledge of exact individual nutritional requirements should lead to better health, increased quality of life and reduced need for expensive medical care. Bioavailability, nutrient-gene interactions and whole-body metabolism all need to be investigated further if we are to progress towards the goal of defining optimal health and nutritional status. The discussion which follows will critically review the latest developments in the area of metabolism for several of the minerals that are essential for human health: Ca, Zn, Cu and Se. Stable-isotope tracers and mathematical modelling are some of the tools being used to facilitate the greater understanding in uptake, utilisation and excretion of these minerals. Stable isotopes, administered in physiological doses, present little or no risk to volunteers and allow metabolic studies to be carried out in vulnerable population groups such as children and pregnant women. Intrinsic labelling of foodstuffs ensures that the tracer and the native mineral will behave similarly once inside the body. Advances in computing power and software dedicated to solving nutritional problems have made it possible for investigators to use mathematical modelling in their experimental work. Mineral metabolism is ideally suited to a form of modelling known as compartmental analysis, which allows rates of mineral transferand sizes of mineral stores to be calculated accurately without the need for invasive sampling of body tissues.
个体对矿物质的需求因人而异，取决于生活方式、年龄和基因构成等因素。了解确切的个体营养需求应该会带来更好的健康、更高的生活质量和减少对昂贵医疗保健的需求。如果我们要朝着定义最佳健康和营养状况的目标前进，就需要进一步研究生物利用度、营养素-基因相互作用和全身代谢。
接下来的讨论将批判性地回顾钙、锌、铜和硒等对人类健康至关重要的几种矿物质代谢领域的最新进展。稳定同位素示踪剂和数学建模是一些用于促进对这些矿物质的吸收、利用和排泄的理解的工具。给予生理剂量的稳定同位素，对志愿者几乎没有或没有风险，并允许在儿童和孕妇等脆弱人群中进行代谢研究。食物的内标确保示踪剂和天然矿物质在进入体内后表现相似。计算能力的提高和专门用于解决营养问题的软件的出现，使得研究人员能够在他们的实验工作中使用数学建模。矿物质代谢非常适合一种称为隔室分析的建模形式，它允许准确计算矿物质转移率和矿物质储存量，而无需对身体组织进行侵入性采样。
