Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques
Open Access

Abstract

The use of stable carbon isotopes in metabolic research on humans has expanded significantly since the early 1980s. This is due to a combination of factors such as the availability of increasing variety of labeled compounds, absence of health risk from radiation and more significantly due to the development of sophisticated instrumentation and greater availability of analytical facilities. Usage of 13 C labeled substrates in human studies has provided an array of information especially on the biochemistry, physiology and disease status. Some examples of this include the utilization of 13 C-octanoate in the Gastric Mobility Breath Test, 13 C-Methionine in the methionine Breath Test for measuring hepatic mitochondrial function, and 13 C-Phenylalanine in 13 C-Phenylalanine Breath Test. While simpler 13 C substrates such as sugars, amino acids and fatty acids are readily commercially available, proteins and carbohydrates generally are not. One can obtain these by labeling photosynthetic organisms with 13 CO2 during photosynthesis and then isolating the compound of interest. One can also take advantage of the naturally enriched substrates for metabolic studies by a prudent selection of these material from plants following different photosynthetic pathways. Most of the human diet is derived from food items from plants following the C 3 photosynthetic pathway which display more negative carbon-13 signature than the plants that follow C 4 type of photosynthetic metabolism. Thus by a simple and imaginative manipulation of the diet by mixing material obtained from both C 3 and C 4 plants, one could obtain a significant physiological information which might lead to the synthesis of newer pharmacological compounds.

Biography