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Stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and selenium concentration in the scalp hair of Crohn's disease patients who ingested the elemental diet Elental®.

RATIONALE
Elental® is an elemental diet widely used as a nutritional supplement for Crohn's disease (CD) patients in Japan. Elental® contains amino acids as nitrogen sources and does not contain selenium (Se), and the δ13 C and δ15 N values of Elental® are markedly higher and lower, respectively, than those of a normal diet.


METHODS
We compared the δ13 C and δ15 N values and Se concentration in the scalp hair of CD patients with those of control subjects who ate a regular diet, and estimated the amount of Elental® ingested as a supplement. The δ13 C and δ15 N values and the Se concentrations were quantified using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively.


RESULTS
An increase in Elental® ingestion increased the δ13 C value in the hair of CD patients (p <0.05), while it reduced the δ15 N value (p <0.05) and tended to reduce the Se concentration in female patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The amount of Elental® ingested could be estimated by the δ13 C and δ15 N values in the hair of CD patients. Furthermore, the Se deficiency in female patients may be predicted from the δ13 C and δ15 N values.