Detecting Pregnancy and Lactation using Bone Collagen Nitrogen Isotopes: a 'Proof of Concept' study

使用骨胶原氮同位素检测怀孕和哺乳期：一项“概念验证”研究

• 批准号: NE/E010644/1
• 负责人: Tamsin OConnell
• 金额: $ 5.09万
• 依托单位: University of Cambridge
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2007 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FE010644%2F1
• 关键词: Detecting; Pregnancy; Lactation; using; Bone

Everything that we consume leaves a chemical signal in our bones, which is a record of what we have eaten. Archaeologists can use this signal in the bones of past human populations to find out about their dietary habits. The technique is now widely used, and is reliable at the broad-brush level. However, work over the last few years has shown that other influences, both external such as climate and internal such as growth or stress, can subtly influence these chemical signals, known as stable isotopic values. In particular, one potential influencing factor on one type of stable isotopic value, the nitrogen isotopic value, is that of pregnancy and lactation. Pregnancy and lactation have been shown to influence hair nitrogen isotope signatures of modern female humans and animals. The mechanisms by which this happens are not fully understood, but it is possible that the effect results from changes in nitrogen metabolism during pregnancy/lactation. To date it is unknown whether the nitrogen isotope changes observed in mammalian hair due to pregnancy and lactation can be seen in bone collagen. Hair records short-term isotopic changes in the body, whereas bone reflects the body's average isotopic composition over several, possibly many, years. However, it is important to identify whether pregnancy and lactation is recorded in bone collagen. Small but significant differences between adult human male and female bone collagen nitrogen isotopic values have been reported in archaeological populations from multiple periods and worldwide locations, with females always lower than males if a difference is observed. At present, such differences are generally interpreted as dietary differences, either differential access to food resources for men and women, or evidence of migration between areas with different diets. However, it may be that what is observed is physiological rather than dietary - endogenous rather than exogenous. We require controlled isotopic studies on individuals with known life-histories to test whether or not pregnancy and lactation affect an individual's bone collagen nitrogen isotopic values. We will test our hypothesis on modern red deer, using a population in which we have already shown that hair nitrogen isotopic values are affected by pregnancy/lactation. We can then consider whether wide-scale observed differences between male and female bone collagen nitrogen isotopic values in archaeological human populations could relate to pregnancy/lactation rather than dietary differences.

我们所吃的一切都会在我们的骨骼中留下化学信号，这是我们所吃东西的记录。考古学家可以利用过去人类骨骼中的这种信号来了解他们的饮食习惯。这项技术现在被广泛使用，在一般水平上是可靠的。然而，过去几年的研究表明，其他影响因素，包括气候等外部因素和生长或压力等内部因素，都可以微妙地影响这些化学信号，即稳定同位素值。特别是，一种类型的稳定同位素值，氮同位素值的一个潜在的影响因素，是怀孕和哺乳。怀孕和哺乳已被证明会影响现代女性人类和动物的头发氮同位素特征。发生这种情况的机制尚未完全了解，但可能是由于怀孕/哺乳期间氮代谢的变化造成的。到目前为止，尚不清楚在哺乳动物毛发中观察到的由于妊娠和哺乳引起的氮同位素变化是否可以在骨胶原中观察到。头发记录了人体内短期的同位素变化，而骨骼则反映了人体几年甚至多年的平均同位素组成。然而，重要的是要确定妊娠和哺乳是否记录在骨胶原中。据报道，在多个时期和世界各地的考古人群中，成年男性和女性骨胶原氮同位素值之间存在微小但显著的差异，如果观察到差异，女性总是低于男性。目前，这种差异通常被解释为饮食差异，或者是男女在获得食物资源方面的差异，或者是饮食不同地区之间的移徙证据。然而，可能观察到的是生理性的而不是饮食性的-内源性的而不是外源性的。我们需要对已知生活史的个体进行受控同位素研究，以测试怀孕和哺乳是否影响个体的骨胶原氮同位素值。我们将测试我们的假设，现代红鹿，使用人口中，我们已经表明，头发氮同位素值受怀孕/哺乳。然后，我们可以考虑是否大规模观察到的男性和女性骨胶原氮同位素值在考古人群之间的差异可能与怀孕/哺乳，而不是饮食差异。