Child Health Research Centre Level 6, Centre for Children's Health Centre, University of Queensland, 62 Graham Street, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2020 Mar;74(3):362-365. doi: 10.1038/s41430-020-0580-0. Epub 2020 Feb 11.
Stable isotopes have been used as tracers in human nutritional studies for many years. A number of isotopes have been used frequently to assess body composition, energy expenditure, protein turnover and metabolic studies in general, such as deuterium (Hydrogen), Oxygen, Carbon and Nitrogen. Nevertheless, there is still occasional confusion and concern over their safety, which can hinder the appropriate use of these isotopes in human studies. This mini review aims, therefore, to consider the safety of the four stable isotopes mentioned above, and to reiterate and reaffirm their safety once again. It is hoped that these data will be of use to new researchers in the field, as well as those considering the ethical or other implications of using these stable isotopes in nutritional research. Undoubtedly some of the confusion arises as deuterium, especially, is associated with the nuclear industry. However, as their name implies, of course, none of these stable isotopes are radioactive, and no adverse biological or physiological effects have been reported at the very low levels of enrichment that are used in human studies. There are ample data to reaffirm the safety of stable isotopes at the levels used in nutritional research, and unnecessary concerns and/or confusion should not be a block to continued use of these important tracers.
稳定同位素多年来一直被用作人类营养研究中的示踪剂。许多同位素经常被用于评估身体成分、能量消耗、蛋白质周转率和一般代谢研究，如氘（氢）、氧、碳和氮。然而，人们仍然对它们的安全性感到困惑和担忧，这可能会阻碍这些同位素在人类研究中的合理使用。因此，本篇迷你综述旨在考虑上述四种稳定同位素的安全性，并再次重申和确认它们的安全性。希望这些数据对该领域的新研究人员以及那些考虑在营养研究中使用这些稳定同位素的伦理或其他影响的人有所帮助。毫无疑问，一些混淆是由于氘，特别是与核工业有关。然而，顾名思义，这些稳定同位素都没有放射性，在人类研究中使用的非常低的丰度水平下，没有报告过任何不良的生物或生理影响。有充分的数据可以证实，在营养研究中使用的稳定同位素是安全的，不应该因为不必要的担忧和/或混淆而阻止这些重要示踪剂的继续使用。
