Hülsemann Frank, Lehn Christine, Schneider Sabine, Jackson Glen, Hill Sarah, Rossmann Andreas, Scheid Nicole, Dunn Philip J H, Flenker Ulrich, Schänzer Wilhelm
Institute of Biochemistry, German Sport University Cologne, Am Sportpark Müngersdorf 6, 50933, Köln, Germany.
Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Nußbaumstr. 26, 80336, München, Germany.
Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2015 Nov 30;29(22):2111-21. doi: 10.1002/rcm.7370.
Natural stable carbon (δ(13)C) and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ(15)N) of humans are related to individual dietary habits and environmental and physiological factors. In forensic science the stable isotope ratios of human remains such as hair and nail are used for geographical allocation. Thus, knowledge of the global spatial distribution of human δ(13)C and δ(15)N values is an essential component in the interpretation of stable isotope analytical results.
No substantial global datasets of human stable isotope ratios are currently available, although the amount of available (published) data has increased within recent years. We have herein summarised the published data on human global δ(13)C andδ(15)N values (around 3600 samples) and added experimental values of more than 400 additional worldwide human hair and nail samples. In order to summarise isotope ratios for hair and nail samples correction factors were determined.
The current available dataset of human stable isotope ratios is biased towards Europe and North America with only limited data for countries in Africa, Central and South America and Southeast Asia. The global spatial distribution of carbon isotopes is related to latitude and supports the fact that human δ(13)C values are dominated by the amount of C4 plants in the diet, either due to direct ingestion as plant food, or by its use as animal feed. In contrast, the global spatial distribution of human δ(15)N values is apparently not exclusively related to the amount of fish or meat ingested, but also to environmental factors that influence agricultural production.
There are still a large proportion of countries, especially in Africa, where there are no available data for human carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Although the interpretation of modern human carbon isotope ratios at the global scale is quite possible, and correlates with the latitude, the potential influences of extrinsic and/or intrinsic factors on human nitrogen isotope ratios have to be taken into consideration.
人类的天然稳定碳（δ(13)C）和氮同位素比率（δ(15)N）与个人饮食习惯以及环境和生理因素有关。在法医学中，头发和指甲等人遗体的稳定同位素比率用于地理定位。因此，了解全球人类δ(13)C和δ(15)N值的空间分布是解释稳定同位素分析结果的重要组成部分。
目前尚无大量关于人类稳定同位素比率的全球数据集，尽管近年来可用（已发表）数据的数量有所增加。我们在此总结了已发表的关于全球人类δ(13)C和δ(15)N值的数据（约3600个样本），并补充了另外400多个来自世界各地的人类头发和指甲样本的实验值。为了总结头发和指甲样本的同位素比率，确定了校正因子。
目前可用的人类稳定同位素比率数据集偏向于欧洲和北美，非洲、中南美洲和东南亚国家的数据有限。碳同位素的全球空间分布与纬度有关，这支持了人类δ(13)C值受饮食中C4植物数量主导的事实，这要么是由于直接摄入植物性食物，要么是由于将其用作动物饲料。相比之下，人类δ(15)N值的全球空间分布显然不仅与摄入的鱼类或肉类数量有关，还与影响农业生产的环境因素有关。
仍有很大比例的国家，特别是非洲国家，没有人类碳和氮同位素比率的可用数据。尽管在全球范围内对现代人类碳同位素比率进行解释是相当可行的，并且与纬度相关，但必须考虑外在和/或内在因素对人类氮同位素比率的潜在影响。
