Use of stable isotopes to evaluate the functional effects of nutrients.
OBJECTIVE
Lifestyle, particularly dietary habits, plays a major role in the increasing prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis. Understanding how diet and specific foods can modify important functions of the body, in a beneficial or detrimental way, is therefore important. This review presents recent advances in the use of stable isotopes to investigate how nutrients can influence pathways of glucose, lipids and protein metabolism, and also intestinal absorption, body composition and fat mass turnover.


RESULTS
Recent developments have focused mainly on the measurement of intratissular metabolic pathways, particularly in lipids and proteins. Advances in the field of cell proliferation rates, body composition and energy expenditure have also been made. Many of these developments rely on the use of deuterated water to trace multiple metabolic pathways.


CONCLUSIONS
Stable isotopes can now be used to measure the kinetics and oxidation rate of circulating metabolites and also body composition, colonic fermentation, intestinal absorption, and important intratissular metabolic pathways, such as gluconeogenesis, lipogenesis, cholesterol synthesis, the turnover rate of triglycerides, individual protein synthesis and cell proliferation. Deuterated water has emerged as a powerful and versatile tool, allowing the simultaneous investigation of several aspects of protein, lipid and glucose metabolism.
Beylot
Michel
M
INSERM U499, Faculté RTH Laennec, Lyon, France.
D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division; D003903:Deuterium; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005285:Fermentation; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000502:physiology; D007553:Isotope Labeling; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D001786:Blood Glucose; D011506:Proteins; D003903:Deuterium