부산대학교 도서관

Purpose: Meat and fish consumption are associated with changes in the risk of chronic diseases. Intake is mainly assessed using self-reporting, as no true quantitative nutritional biomarker is available. The measurement of plasma fatty acids, often used as an alternative, is expensive and time-consuming. As meat and fish differ in their stable isotope ratios, δC and δN have been proposed as biomarkers. However, they have never been investigated in controlled human dietary intervention studies. Objective: In a short-term feeding study, we investigated the suitability of δC and δN in blood, urine and faeces as biomarkers of meat and fish intake. Methods: The dietary intervention study ( n = 14) followed a randomised cross-over design with three eight-day dietary periods (meat, fish and half-meat-half-fish). In addition, 4 participants completed a vegetarian control period. At the end of each period, 24-h urine, fasting venous blood and faeces were collected and their δC and δN analysed. Results: There was a significant difference between diets in isotope ratios in faeces and urine samples, but not in blood samples (Kruskal-Wallis test, p < 0.0001). In pairwise comparisons, δC and δN were significantly higher in urine and faecal samples following a fish diet when compared with all other diets, and significantly lower following a vegetarian diet. There was no significant difference in isotope ratio between meat and half-meat-half-fish diets for blood, urine or faecal samples. Conclusions: The results of this study show that urinary and faecal δC and δN are suitable candidate biomarkers for short-term meat and fish intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]