Hovinen Topi, Kettunen Elina, Erkkola Maijaliisa, Suomalainen Anu, Freese Riitta, Korkalo Liisa
Research Programs Unit, Stem Cells and Metabolism, University of Helsinki, 00290, Helsinki, Finland.
Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 27;15(1):18568. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-02114-8.
The purpose of the study was to calculate the relative intake of animal source energy (animal source energy percentage, ASEP) and examine its utility in nutrition and metabolic research with a special attention on children. In addition, the capacity of ASEP to identify potential metabolic biomarkers of plant-forward diets was tested. Four-day food records and 7-day dietary screeners of 51 Finnish children aged 1-7 years, consuming a vegan (n = 7), pesco-/lacto-/ovo-vegetarian (n = 11) or omnivorous diet (n = 33), were used for assessing general performance of ASEP as diet measure. Blood samples of 40 children (six vegans, eight vegetarians, 26 omnivores) were analyzed for plasma LDL cholesterol, erythrocyte folate concentration and serum untargeted MS-metabolomics. Estimated ASEPs varied between 0% and 52%. Vegetarians and omnivores showed overlapping ASEPs. ASEP had a strong positive correlation with saturated fatty acid (percent of energy, E%; r = 0.785) and cholesterol intake (r = 0.715) and a strong negative correlation with fibre (r = - 0.811) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (E%; r = - 0.819) intake. ASEP also correlated with plasma LDL cholesterol (r = 0.699) concentration. Serum indoleacrylic acid (IAA) is suggested to be further investigated as a possible biomarker of plant-forward diet. ASEP provides a useful tool for objective and quantitative assessment of diet characteristics in research.
本研究的目的是计算动物源能量的相对摄入量（动物源能量百分比，ASEP），并检验其在营养与代谢研究中的效用，特别关注儿童群体。此外，还测试了ASEP识别以植物为主食的潜在代谢生物标志物的能力。利用51名年龄在1至7岁的芬兰儿童的4天食物记录和7天饮食筛查数据，这些儿童分别食用纯素饮食（n = 7）、鱼素/乳素/蛋素饮食（n = 11）或杂食饮食（n = 33），以评估ASEP作为饮食测量指标的总体表现。对40名儿童（6名纯素食者、8名素食者、26名杂食者）的血液样本进行分析，检测血浆低密度脂蛋白胆固醇、红细胞叶酸浓度和血清非靶向质谱代谢组学。估计的ASEP在0%至52%之间。素食者和杂食者的ASEP有重叠。ASEP与饱和脂肪酸（能量百分比，E%；r = 0.785）和胆固醇摄入量（r = 0.715）呈强正相关，与纤维（r = - 0.811）和多不饱和脂肪酸（E%；r = - 0.819）摄入量呈强负相关。ASEP还与血浆低密度脂蛋白胆固醇浓度（r = 0.699）相关。血清吲哚丙烯酸（IAA）建议作为以植物为主食的可能生物标志物进一步研究。ASEP为研究中客观定量评估饮食特征提供了一个有用的工具。
