A comparative study of serum proteins, lipids, calcium and inorganic phosphorus between Japanese and Dutch university students.

Abstract

The levels of serum proteins, lipids and minerals in Japanese and Dutch students measured by biochemical methods were compared and their correlation with the nutritional status were investigated. The mean values of serum total proteins (TP), albumin (Alb), globulin (Glb) and albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio in the Japanese students (7.8±0.5, 4.7±0.3 and 3.2±0.4g/dl, and 1.5±0.2, respectively) were similar to those of the Dutch students (7.8±0.5, 4.7±0.3 and 3.0±0.3g/dl, and 1.6±0.2, respectively). However, the mean value of TP in males (8.0±0.5g/dl for the Japanese and 8.0±0.4g/dl for the Dutch) was significantly higher than this in females (7.7±0.3g/dl for the Japanese and 7.5±0.5g/dl for the Dutch) in the each group (p<0.01) and the mean value of Alb of male Dutch students (4.9±0.2g/dl) was higher than that in females (4.5±0.3g/dl, p<0.01). No significant differences were found between the two groups in serum lipid and mineral levels. The serum phospholipid (PL) level in female Dutch students (217±37mg/dl) was significantly higher than that in males (188±25mg/dl, p<0.01), while the serum triglyceride (TG) level in female Japanese students (60±25mg/dl) was significantly lower than that in males (74±33mg/dl, p<0.05), which agreed with the frequency distribution patterns of these lipids. Comparing the two student groups of both countries, there were significant positive correlations between TP and Alb (p<0.001 for both groups), TP and Glb (p<0.001 for both groups) and Alb and A/G ratio (p<0.001 for the Japanese and p<0.01 for the Dutch) in each group. A significant negative correlation between Glb and A/G ratio (p<0.001) was also found in each group. Significant positive correlations were also observed between PL and TG (p<0.01 for the Japanese and p<0.05 for the Dutch), PL and total cholesterol (TC) (p<0.001 for each group) and TG and TC (p<0.01 for the Dutch). The serum PL and TC increased significantly with the serum TP in the Japanese students (p<0.01 for PL and TP, p<0.05 for TG and TP) but not in the Dutch students. The authors concluded that serum protein, lipid and mineral profiles between the two groups did not differ much in spite of their different eating patterns.