Submitted on March 9, 2006
Accepted on May 24, 2006
A novel method to determine lean body water using localized skin biopsies: correlation between lean skin water and lean body water in an over-hydration model
Shannon E. Campbell1*, Rafael Ostrowski1, Carine Hoarau1, Nick Durr2, and Martin P. Debreczeny1
1 Advanced Technology Development Group, Nellcor Tyco Healthcare, Pleasanton, California, United States
2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: shannon.campbell{at}tycohealthcare.com.
To determine the relationship between total body water (TBW) fraction and local water content measured in the skin (SW) this study assessed 8 anesthetized piglets in an over-hydration model. Total body water was assessed by deuterium oxide (D2O) dilution and body mass measurements taken throughout the experiments, and by whole body carcass analysis at the end of each experiment. Additionally extracellular water and plasma volume were assessed using bromide dilution and Evan's blue dilution, respectively. Skin water was assessed by tissue biopsies taken at 60 min intervals throughout the experiment. Lean body water (LBW) fraction and lean skin water (LSW) fraction were assessed by extracting the fat from the carcass and biopsy samples. A correlation does exist between TBW fraction and SW fraction with r2=0.58 (P<0.05), however, the strongest correlation occurred between LBW fraction and LSW fraction with r2=0.87 (P<0.05) and a standard error of prediction of 0.77%. These data demonstrate that LSW gives an accurate and precise estimate of LBW, and could therefore be used to determine the hydration index in appropriate research settings.
