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Stable isotope dilution techniques for assessing vitamin A status and bioefficacy of provitamin A carotenoids in humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Harold C Furr ,
Michael H Green ,
Marjorie Haskell ,
Najat Mokhtar ,
Penelope Nestel ,
Sam Newton ,
Judy D Ribaya-Mercado ,
Guangwen Tang ,
Sherry Tanumihardjo  and
Emorn Wasantwisut
Harold C Furr*
Affiliation:
Craft Technologies, 4344 Frank Price Church Road, Wilson, NC 27893, USA
Michael H Green
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
Marjorie Haskell
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Najat Mokhtar
Affiliation:
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria
Penelope Nestel
Affiliation:
HarvestPlus, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA
Sam Newton
Affiliation:
Kintampo Health Research Center, Kintampo, Ghana
Judy D Ribaya-Mercado
Affiliation:
Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
Guangwen Tang
Affiliation:
Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
Sherry Tanumihardjo
Affiliation:
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
Emorn Wasantwisut
Affiliation:
The Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand
*
*Corresponding author: Email hfurr@crafttechnologies.com
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Abstract

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Vitamin A deficiency is a major global public health problem. Among the variety of techniques that are available for assessing human vitamin A status, evaluating the provitamin A nutritional values of foodstuffs and estimating human vitamin A requirements, isotope dilution provides the most accurate estimates. Although the relative expense of isotope dilution restricts its applications, it has an important function as the standard of reference for other techniques. Mathematical modelling plays an indispensable role in the interpretation of isotope dilution data. This review summarises recent applications of stable isotope methodology to determine human vitamin A status, estimate human vitamin A requirements, and calculate the bioconversion and bioefficacy of food carotenoids.

Keywords

Vitamin AIsotope dilutionVitamin A statusNutrition assessmentMathematical models
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 6 , September 2005 , pp. 596 - 607
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

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