Issue 4, 2014

The emerging role of carbon isotope ratio determination in health research and medical diagnostics

Abstract

Variations in the isotopic signature of carbon in biological samples (e.g. breath, blood and tissues) can be used to monitor shifts in whole body metabolism. As a conservative recorder of our diet, changes in the isotopic signature of carbon in biological samples provide an objective means to distinguish dietary patterns and the relationship with diseases. In addition, metabolic discrimination of carbon within the body can be informative regarding changes in the body's metabolic fuel usage during situations where shifts in the macronutrient oxidation ratio are expected. Therefore, changes in the isotopic signature over time have proven to be a tremendously powerful and sensitive means of detecting and measuring changes in steady-state systems. As such, this review focuses on how a naturally occurring ratio of stable isotopes of carbon (13C/12C) can be used as a biomarker for nutritional and metabolic status, altered macronutrient metabolism, and health and disease.

Graphical abstract: The emerging role of carbon isotope ratio determination in health research and medical diagnostics

Article information

Article type
Tutorial Review
Submitted
01 Oct 2013
Accepted
21 Nov 2013
First published
22 Nov 2013
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2014,29, 594-598

The emerging role of carbon isotope ratio determination in health research and medical diagnostics

D. E. Bütz, S. L. Casperson and L. D. Whigham, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2014, 29, 594 DOI: 10.1039/C3JA50327E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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