Un estudio muestra el primer paso hacia el desarrollo de una prueba para medir el estado de la vitamina D a partir de muestras de cabello
Más de mil millones de personas en todo el mundo tienen deficiencia de Vitaminas D. This deficiency affects primarily bone health and also increases one’s risk of cardiovascular enfermedades, diabetes, células cancerosas etc. Due to this implication assessment of Vitaminas D has gained interest. Vitamina D se mide a través de un análisis de sangre which measures the concentration of best biomarker of Vitaminas D en sangre called 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D3). The sangre sample needs to be collected in hygienic conditions under trained medical personnel. This test is an accurate estimate but its biggest limitation is that it reflects status of Vitaminas D at a single time point and does not account for high variability of Vitaminas D thus requires frequent sampling. A single value may not be an ideal representation as Vitamina D levels could differ in our body depending upon season or other factors. The test is expensive and a cost burden especially in low-and-middle-income countries. But, because high proportion of population is now deficient in Vitaminas D this sangre test is being increasingly requested.
Un estudio publicado en Nutrientes led by Trinity College, Dublin has shown for the first time that Vitaminas D can be extracted and measured from human hair1. Authors themselves provided three hair samples for the study, two harvested from crown area of the scalp and one from beard, which were cut into 1cm length, weighed, washed and dried. 25(OH)D3 was extracted from these samples using the same procedure used to extract steroid hormones from hair2 in which a mathematical formula takes measured concentrations of the biomarker using Liquid chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) or Mass Spectrometry (MS) and provides an approximation of concentration in the hair. At the same time, sangre from all tissue samples was also analyzed using MS. Quantifiable concentrations of 25(OH)D3 present in both hair and beard samples were measured validating feasibility of such a measurement.
Human hair grows approximately 1 cm every month and Vitaminas D is deposited to the hair continuously. More Vitaminas D is deposited to hair when levels of Vitaminas D en el sangre are high and less is deposited when they are low. A test which could measure vitamina levels from hair can tell us about Vitamin D status over a longer duration – several months at least taking into account seasonal differences. The longer one’s hair, more accurately status of Vitamin D can be measured, example several months to years and this could be treated as a long-term record.
This is an inexpensive, non-invasive method to capture Vitaminas D status and can help medical professionals to maintain levels of Vitamin D concentrations in a person over time. The exact association between Vitamin D in sangre and in hair over a period of time needs further research as factors such as hair color, hair thickness and texture could affect Vitaminas D in hair.
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{Puede leer el trabajo de investigación original haciendo clic en el enlace DOI que figura a continuación en la lista de fuentes citadas}
Fuentes)
1. Zgaga L y col. 2019. Medición de 25-hidroxivitamina D en cabello humano: resultados de un estudio de prueba de concepto. Nutrientes. . 11 (2). http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu11020423
2. Gao W y col. 2016. Análisis basado en LC-MS de hormonas esteroides endógenas en cabello humano. J. Steroid Biochem. mol. Biol. 162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2015.12.022
