Measurement of total energy and material balance in rats by means of doubly labeled water

¹ Department of Physiology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota

A test has been carried out in rats of the possibility of measuring with the aid of doubly labeled water (D₂O¹⁸) the following components of the material balance of an animal: output of CO₂ and water; intake of oxygen, food and water. The items of information used for the measurement were a) isotopic analyses of initial and final blood samples, b) composition of the diet with respect to percentage protein, carbohydrate and fat, c) initial and final body weight, d) final percentage body water. Initial percentage body water obtained from a by the volume of dilution principle could substitute for d. CO₂ and water output were estimated isotopically; O₂ consumption, from the CO₂ output and dietary R. Q.; food intake, from CO₂ output and dietary composition; water intake, from the difference between water output and dietary metabolic water. A rough correction for storage of materials was made from the change in body weight. The average difference between observed values for each of the above components of the material balance and values calculated by the isotope procedure was less than 10%. The fact that dry air was supplied to the animal in the metabolism chamber used to obtain the observed values probably favored better agreement between calculated and observed values for water intake and output than would prevail in ordinary moist air.