Fecal steroids of the coprolite of a Greenland Eskimo mummy, AD 1475: a clue to dietary sterol intake.
BACKGROUND
Sterols in feces reflect sterols in the diet. In previous analyses of the fecal steroids in 1000-2000-y-old Native American coprolites found in the dry caves of Nevada, we showed that the sterol nucleus was stable. The coprolites provided useful dietary information.


OBJECTIVE
In the present study, we analyzed the fecal steroids of an Eskimo mummy buried and frozen >500 y ago in Greenland. We compared these analyses with our findings in the coprolites from Nevada and in present-day stool samples from Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and Americans consuming low- and high-cholesterol diets.


METHODS
The fecal material from the Eskimo mummy was subjected to saponification, extraction, and digitonin precipitation. The sterols and bile acids were further analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography.


RESULTS
The fecal steroids of the Greenland Eskimo mummy were remarkably similar to those of present-day stool samples. However, unlike in the stool of modern humans, a portion of the neutral steroids in the coprolite had been converted to sterol epimers. Instead of deoxycholic acid, 3alpha,6beta,12alpha-trihydroxycholanic acid was one of the major fecal bile acids. The plant sterol output in the coprolite was only 0.4% of the output of Americans consuming 250-400 mg plant sterols/d. The ratio of bile acid to cholesterol in the coprolite was similar to that in stool from Tarahumara Indians consuming a low-cholesterol diet.


CONCLUSIONS
The sterol nucleus is stable when frozen. The analysis of coprolite showed that the young Eskimo woman had consumed a diet very low in plant sterols and moderate to low in cholesterol content.
Lin
D S
DS
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, USA.
Connor
W E
WE
D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000032:analysis; D004083:Cholestanol / Q000032:analysis; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004032:Diet / Q000266:history*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D006116:Greenland; D049668:History, 15th Century; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D004930:Inuit / Q000266:history*; D009106:Mummies / Q000266:history*; D009505:Nevada; D010840:Phytosterols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis; D013256:Steroids / Q000032:analysis*
D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D010840:Phytosterols; D013256:Steroids; D004083:Cholestanol; D002784:Cholesterol