Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India.
Eur J Nutr. 2024 Mar;63(2):409-423. doi: 10.1007/s00394-023-03273-y. Epub 2023 Nov 25.
Diet-related diseases are advancing as the leading cause of death globally. As self-reporting of diet by patients can be associated with errors, stable isotopes of human tissues can be used to diagnose diseases, understand physiology, and detect change in diet. This study investigates the effect of type and amount of food on the nitrogen and carbon concentration (N and C) and isotopic composition (δN and δC) in human scalp hair and fingernails.
A total of 100 residents participated in the study whereas only 74 individuals provided complete diet history. Sixty-six food items majorly available to them were also collected. The N, C, δN and δC values of human hair, nails and food items were determined.
The N, C, δN and δC values between plant-sourced and animal-sourced food items, as well as human hair and nail tissue were significantly different (p < 0.05). The δN value of human tissues was distinct between lacto-vegetarians and omnivores by 0.9‰. The δN and δC values of human tissues increased by 0.4-0.5‰ with every 5% increase in the consumption of animal protein.
The study helps to demarcate lacto-vegetarians from omnivores, and estimate the percentage of animal protein in diet based on the dual isotope values of human tissues. It also acts as a reference to determine isotopic composition of hair tissue provided the isotope value of nail tissue is known and vice versa.
饮食相关疾病正在成为全球主要死因。由于患者的饮食自我报告可能存在误差，因此可以使用人体组织的稳定同位素来诊断疾病、了解生理机能并检测饮食变化。本研究调查了食物的类型和数量对人体头皮头发和指甲中氮和碳浓度（N 和 C）及同位素组成（δN 和 δC）的影响。
共有 100 名居民参加了这项研究，但只有 74 人提供了完整的饮食史。还收集了他们主要食用的 66 种食物。测定了人体毛发、指甲和食物中 N、C、δN 和 δC 值。
植物性和动物性食物以及人体毛发和指甲组织之间的 N、C、δN 和 δC 值存在显著差异（p<0.05）。与杂食者相比，素食者的人体组织δN 值低 0.9‰。人体组织的 δN 和 δC 值每增加 0.4-0.5‰，动物蛋白的摄入量就会增加 5%。
本研究有助于将素食者与杂食者区分开来，并根据人体组织的双同位素值来估计饮食中动物蛋白的百分比。它还可以作为参考，在已知指甲组织同位素值的情况下确定头发组织的同位素组成，反之亦然。
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