The Bradford Tooth Fairy Project. Human dentine - a unique biomarker
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Bradford Tooth Fairy Project. Human dentine - a unique biomarker for in utero experience and nutritional stress in the womb and a predictor of health in later life?
IRAS ID
200244
Contact name
Julia Beaumont
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bradford
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
REC Ref 07/H1306/98+5 , ethical tissue REC ref; 12191, HTA Licence University of Bradford; Ethical Tissue application/10/028, Dr J Beaumont approval for research
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
The quality of the in utero environment can affect the long-term health of an adult. From modern studies of nutritional stress we know physiological changes, as well as dietary information, are recorded in incrementally-growing tissues such as hair and fingernails through changes in the nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon isotope ratios (δ13C). Raised δ15N related to the period of starvation was identified in my study of teeth from Irish Famine victims.
The only extant tissue in the human body formed in utero is primary dentine within deciduous teeth. I have developed a novel method of analysing tiny archaeological dentine samples showing that in utero nitrogen isotope ratios are higher and wider in range than predicted: thus if high nitrogen values reflect maternal/infant stress during pregnancy this could then be used to reconstruct the diet and health of the mother, and thus the developing infant. A small pilot study of modern teeth with perinatal medical histories suggests this is the case.
The Rank Prize will allow me to collect 250 deciduous teeth together with medical histories in collaboration with Ethical Tissue (UoB) (http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/ethicaltissue/) and Dr Peter Day (https://medhealth.leeds.ac.uk/profile/1200/693/peter_day) from patients undergoing dental extractions under general anaesthetic at the Airedale Clinic, and to analyse them at the Bradford isotope laboratory in order to provide proof-of-concept for a much larger study of diet and physiology during childhood. Potentially, the measurement of dentine could be applied as a technique to identify children at risk of disease in later life, as a forensic tool in cases of neglect, and also to study the maternal/infant health in ancient populations.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0283
Date of REC Opinion
6 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion