ArticleThe Journal of nutrition2016
13C Natural Abundance of Serum Retinol Is a Novel Biomarker for Evaluating Provitamin A Carotenoid-Biofortified Maize Consumption in Male Mongolian Gerbils.
Article in The Journal of nutrition, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- β-Cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin are highly bioavailable from whole-grain and refined biofortified orange maize in humans with optimal vitamin A status: a randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2018Trial
- Provitamin A-biofortified maize consumption increases serum xanthophylls andExperimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2017Trial
- Analysis of 13C Enrichment of Vitamin A in Biological Samples by Gas Chromatography-Combustion-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2025Article
- Synthesis of 13C2-Retinyl Acetate and Dose Preparation for Retinol Isotope Dilution Tests.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2025Article
- Comparison of Total Body Vitamin A Stores Using Individual versus PopulationThe Journal of nutrition · 2023Article
- Overlapping Vitamin A Interventions with Provitamin A Carotenoids and Preformed Vitamin A Cause Excessive Liver Retinol Stores in Male Mongolian Gerbils.The Journal of nutrition · 2020Article
- Total Adipose Retinol Concentrations Are Correlated with Total Liver Retinol Concentrations in Male Mongolian Gerbils, but Only Partially Explained by Chylomicron Deposition Assessed with Total α-Retinol.Current developments in nutrition · 2019Article
- Use of Stable Isotopes to Evaluate Bioefficacy of Provitamin A Carotenoids, Vitamin A Status, and Bioavailability of Iron and Zinc.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2018Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCrops such as maize, sorghum, and millet are being biofortified with provitamin A carotenoids to ensure adequate vitamin A (VA) intakes. VA assessment can be challenging because serum retinol concentrations are homeostatically controlled and more sensitive techniques are resource-intensive.
objectivesWe investigated changes in serum retinol relative differences of isotope amount ratios of (13)C/(12)C (δ(13)C) caused by natural (13)C fractionation in C3 compared with C4 plants as a biomarker to detect provitamin A efficacy from biofortified (orange) maize and high-carotene carrots.
methodsThe design was a 2 × 2 × 2 maize (orange compared with white) by carrot (orange compared with white) by a VA fortificant (VA+ compared with VA-) in weanling male Mongolian gerbils (n = 55), which included a 14-d VA depletion period and a 62-d treatment period (1 baseline and 8 treatment groups; n = 5-7/group). Liver VA and serum retinol were quantified, purified by HPLC, and analyzed by GC combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry for (13)C.
resultsTreatments affected liver VA concentrations (0.048 ± 0.039 to 0.79 ± 0.24 μmol/g; P < 0.0001) but not overall serum retinol concentrations (1.38 ± 0.22 μmol/L). Serum retinol and liver VA δ(13)C were significantly correlated (R(2) = 0.92; P < 0.0001). Serum retinol δ(13)C differentiated control groups that consumed white maize and white carrots (-27.1 ± 1.2 δ(13)C‰) from treated groups that consumed orange maize and white carrots (-21.6 ± 1.4 δ(13)C‰ P < 0.0001) and white maize and orange carrots (-30.6 ± 0.7 δ(13)C‰ P < 0.0001). A prediction model demonstrated the relative contribution of orange maize to total dietary VA for groups that consumed VA from mixed sources.
conclusionsProvitamin A efficacy and quantitative estimation of the relative contribution to dietary VA were demonstrated with the use of serum retinol δ(13)C. This method could be used for maize efficacy or effectiveness studies and with other C4 crops biofortified with provitamin A carotenoids (e.g., millet, sorghum). Advantages include no extrinsic tracer dose, 1 blood sample, and higher sensitivity than serum retinol concentrations alone.
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