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Validation of deuterium labeled fatty acids for the measurement of dietary fat oxidation: a method for measuring fat-oxidation in free-living subjects

International Journal of Obesity volume 25, pages 1240–1245 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Fatty acid oxidation has frequently been measured using 13C or 14C labeled fatty acids. While providing valuable data, the breath test method is hindered by the need for a controlled environment to measure VCO2 and collect frequent breath samples. Additionally, the CO2 breath tests require the use of 13C- or 14C-acetate to correct for isotope exchange in the TCA cycle. We validated d31-palmitic acid for measuring dietary fat oxidation. When oxidized, the deuterium appears as water and mixes with the body water pool providing a cumulative record of fat oxidation.

METHODS: The recovery of deuterium from d31-palmitic acid at 10 h post-dose was compared to that of 13CO2 from [1-13C]-palmitic acid in nine subjects (body mass index (BMI) = 23.6±2.8; percentage body fat (%BF) = 22.6±5.3; mean±s.d.). Subjects were studied at rest. [1-13C]-acetate (2 mg/kg) was dosed in a liquid breakfast. On a second day, [1-13C]-palmitic acid (10 mg/kg) and d31-palmitic acid (15 mg/kg) were dosed with the same liquid breakfast.

RESULTS: Recovery of 13CO2 from [1-13C]-acetate at 10 h post-dose was 53.7±10.4%. Recovery of d31-palmitic acid was 13.2±7.7% (mean±s.d.) and [1-13C]-palmitic acid recovery was 6.4±3.6%. When the 13C data was corrected for [1-13C]-acetate (Na salt) recovery, the mean difference in percentage recovery between the two tracers was 0.5±2.8% and cumulative recoveries through 10 h post-dose were highly correlated (y = 1.045x−0.47; r2 = 0.88, P<0.0002). Our data shows both labels to be equivalent in their ability to measure dietary fat oxidation in resting subjects.

CONCLUSIONS: The use of deuterium labeled palmitic acid eliminates the need for rigid control over the subjects' environment. Frequent sampling and measurement of VCO2 are not needed for accurate calculation of percentage recovery of the deuterium label. In addition, the deuterium label has a decreased potential for isotopic exchange compared to 13C or 14C, so a recovery correction factor is probably not required.

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Notes

  1. Del per mille (δ) = (RU/RSTD−1)1000.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our volunteers for their time and patience while participating in the study. Additionally, we thank Dr Stephane Blanc for his suggestions on the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    SB Votruba, SM Zeddun & DA Schoeller

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  1. SB Votruba
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  2. SM Zeddun
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  3. DA Schoeller
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Correspondence to DA Schoeller.

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Votruba, S., Zeddun, S. & Schoeller, D. Validation of deuterium labeled fatty acids for the measurement of dietary fat oxidation: a method for measuring fat-oxidation in free-living subjects. Int J Obes 25, 1240–1245 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801672

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