Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T12:27:43.743Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for the measurement of gross body composition in rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Susan A. Jebb
Affiliation:
MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2DH
Stephen W Garland
Affiliation:
MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2DH
Graham Jennings
Affiliation:
MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2DH
Marinos Elia
Affiliation:
MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2DH
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a novel, non-invasive technique for the measurement of gross body composition in small animals. In the present study the absolute accuracy of the Hologic QDR-lOOOW scanner was assessed by comparison with direct analysis in twelve rats with a range of body fat and bone mineral content (BMC) values. Fat masses measured by DXA and petroleumether extraction were significantly different (P<0·0023). The DXA technique consistently overestimated fat mass by approximately one third of the measured fatcontent. BMC derived from the measurement of Ca in asb gave a mean of 8·26 (range 1·57–15·71)g. BMC measured by DXA was not significantly different for the group as a whole. However, there was a trend for DXA to overestimate BMC in animals with low BMC and underestimate in those with higher BMC, compared with direct analysis, such that the 95% limits of agreement for the two techniques were +2·73 to −2·58g. These results suggest that the present small-animal software developed for use with currently available Hologic machines does not give an accurate measure of gross body composition compared with the results from classical direct analysis.

Type
Body composition assessment
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1996

References

REFERENCES

Ammann, P., Rizzoli, R., Slosman, D. & Bonjour, J-P. (1992). Sequential and precise in vivo measurement of bone mineral density inrats using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 7,311316CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bland, J. M. & Altman, D. G. (1986). Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet i, 307310CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brunton, J. A., Bayley, H. S. & Atkinson, S. A. (1993).Validation and application of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure bone mass and body composition in small infants. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 58, 839845.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, K. J., Shypailo, R. J., Pratt, J. A. & Pond, W. G. (1994). Accuracy of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry measurements in children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 60, 660665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffin, M. G., Kimble, R., Hopfer, W. & Pacifici, R. (1993). Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry of the rat: accuracy, precision and measurement of bone loss. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 8, 795800.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagiwara, S., Lane, N., Engelke, K., Sebastian, A., Kimmel, D. B. & Genant, H. K. (1993). Precision and accuracy for rat whole-body and femur bone mineral determination with dual X-ray absorptiometry. Bone and Mineral Research 22, 5768.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamnett, F. S. (1925). A biochemical study of bone growth. III. Changes in the composition of the ash during growth. Journal of Biological Chemistry 64, 693696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jebb, S. A., Goldberg, G. R., Jennings, G. & Elia, M. (1995). Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry measurements of body composition: effects of depth and tissue thickness, including comparisons with direct analysis. Clinical Science 88, 319324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kimmel, D. B. & Wronski, T. J. (1990). Non-destructive measurement of bone mineral in femurs from ovariectomized rats. Calcified Tissue International 46, 101110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitlak, B. H., Schoenfeld, D. & Neer, R. M. (1994). Accuracy, precision and utility of spine and whole-skeleton mineral measurements by DXA in rats. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 9, 119126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Svendson, O. L., Haarbo, J., Hassager, C. & Christiansen, C. (1993). Accuracy of measurements of body composition by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in vivo. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 57, 605608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tothill, P., Avenell, A., Love, J. & Reid, D. M. (1994). Comparisons between Hologic, Lunar and Norland dual energy X-ray absorptiometers and other techniques used for whole-body soft tissue measurements. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48, 781794.Google ScholarPubMed