All experiments described here were approved by the University of Missouri Animal Care and Use Committee and conducted under the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Wildlife Scientific Collection permit (Permit #16409 and #17649).
1. Preparation of sterile, isotonic, salinated D2O stock solution
2. Preparation of sterile, isotonic, salinated D2O stock working solution for bats
3. Determination of body composition of big brown bats (Eptesicus fucsus) with D2O
NOTE: The stock solution of D2O used in the protocol is 0.1598 g/mL. Before collecting blood, ensure that removing up to 200 µL of blood will be ≤ 10% of the total blood volume of the bat and is within the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee's (IACUC) established guidelines for blood collection. All animals should be fasted or abdomen palpated to ensure an empty stomach. A recent meal could alter the animal's weight resulting in confounded results since calculations for determining body fat rely upon the body mass of the animal.
4. Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometry analysis
5. Calculation of body composition
6. Determination of water composition in a carnivore (Felis catus, domestic cat)
The deuterium oxide dilution technique can be used to assess the body composition of a variety of species. To demonstrate the adaptability, we are reporting the first use of the deuterium oxide dilution technique in a North American insectivorous bat species, Eptesicus fuscus, the big brown bat for representative results. A timing plateau was completed by taking pre- and post-D2O injection blood samples as should be done with any species where the equilibration period is unknown. It was determined that two hours post-injection in non-torpid bats was adequate for equilibration. With the equilibration time known, the total body water, lean body mass, and body fat mass for 13 wild-caught big brown bats and 8 captive big brown bats were determined (Table 2). An additional 2 wild-caught big brown bats and 5 captive big brown bats were determined to have a negative body fat mass. A negative body fat mass is calculated due to one or more of the following reasons: not receiving the entire dose of deuterium oxide, becoming torpid during the equilibration phase, having abnormally large fat masses and minimal lean mass, or bats having under 3%−5% body fat as determine by DXA (Table 3).
White-nose syndrome has caused many bat species to decline, so the technique was compared to the body fat measured using DXA. Figure 1 shows the percentage of body fat determined by the D2O dilution technique and DXA (n = 19). The two techniques were well correlated with a Pearson's r = 0.897 (Figure 2) and were not statistically different (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), F-value = 0.366, p = 0.549). The body fat showed strong correlations between body fat and body weight (Figure 3). The D2O dilution technique did not consistently over or underestimate the body fat mass.
The deuterium oxide method has been previously validated in cats16. Table 4 shows an example of the total body water, lean body mass, and body fat mass of a single cat9. Hooper et al.9 was the first to report the use of deuterium oxide dilution to measure the water consumption of socially housed animals with the daily water consumption of the cats during each dietary block of the experiment, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 1: Deuterium oxide and DXA line plot. Each point represents the body fat percentage of an individual bat as determined by DXA or deuterium oxide. The mean is the light green point with error bars indicating the standard error of the mean. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Percentage of body fat in big brown bats. Deming regression (solid blue line, Pearson's r = 0.897) comparing the percentage of body fat determined by DXA (x-axis, the reference method) and the percentage of body fat determined by deuterium oxide (y-axis, the test method) in big brown bats with 95% confidence intervals designated by gray shading. The green dash identity line drawn represents the regression line when the methods are equal. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: Percentage of body fat in big brown bats compared to body weight. Body weight of each bat plotted against the body fat percentage determined by D2O or DXA. A strong correlation exists between the body weight and body fat as determined by DXA (dark blue line, Pearson's r = 0.88) and D2O (blue line, Pearson's r = 0.86). Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 4: Water consumption of socially housed cats. Representative results of the daily water consumption of socially housed cats during an experiment evaluating the effects of dietary constituents on water consumption. This figure has been modified from Hooper et al.9. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Parameter | Setting |
Number of scans | 64 |
Resolution | 2 |
Data spacing | 0.946 cm-1 |
Final format | Absorbance |
Correction | None |
Use fixed Y-axis limits in collection window | Min -0.01, Max 0.03 |
Bench range | Max 6.38, Min -5.02, Loc 1024 |
Total absorbing peak sensitivity | 50 |
fringes or channeling sensitivity | 80 |
Derivative peaks sensativity | 51 |
Baseline error sensitivity | 50 |
CO2 levels sensitivity | 19 |
H2O levels sensitivity | 19 |
Apodization mode | Happ-Genzel |
Phase correction | Mertz |
Filters set based upon | velocity |
low pass filter | 11,000 |
high pass filter | 20 |
Table 1: Spectral software settings. Parameter settings used for spectral recording software.
Animal | Species | Body weight (kg) |
D2O injected (g) |
Total body water (g) |
Lean body mass (g) |
Body fat mass (g) |
Body fat mass (%) |
DXA lean + bmc (g) |
DXA fat (g) |
DXA fat (%) |
1 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.01715 | 0.0740 | 11.80 | 16.15 | 1.00 | 5.80 | 14.65 | 0.75 | 4.80 |
2 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.01950 | 0.0920 | 13.80 | 18.83 | 0.69 | 3.50 | 16.20 | 1.40 | 7.90 |
3 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.01677 | 0.08 | 11.33 | 15.47 | 1.30 | 7.74 | 11.33 | 1.30 | 7.74 |
4 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.02129 | 0.097 | 12.51 | 17.09 | 4.20 | 19.7 | 15.9 | 19.65 | 19.2 |
Table 2: Body composition of big brown bats. The representative results of total body water, lean body mass, and body fat as determined by deuterium oxide dilution in big brown bats are shown in columns 5−8. Representative results of the lean body mass plus bone mineral content and body fat as determined by DXA in the same big brown bats are shown in columns 9−11.
Animal | Species | Body weight (kg) |
D2O injected (g) |
Total body water (g) |
Lean body mass (g) |
Body fat mass (g) |
Body fat mass (%) |
DXA lean + bmc (g) |
DXA fat (g) |
DXA fat (%) |
Comment |
1 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.0277 | 0.1299 | 34.18 | 46.69 | -19.02 | -68.74 | 9.90 | 26.55 | 62.80 | Equili-bration time insufficient |
2 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.0185 | 0.0810388 | 64.23 | 87.75 | -69.25 | -374.33 | 14.20 | 17.30 | 17.95 | Full dose not injected |
3 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.0164 | 0.0719 | 17.38 | 23.74 | -7.33 | -44.68 | 14.15 | 14.40 | 1.70 | Less than 3% fat |
4 | Eptesicus fuscus | 0.0212 | 0.0994 | 54.57 | 74.54 | -53.37 | -252.0 | 16.41 | 19.01 | 13.65 | Bat became torpid (cool to touch) |
Table 3: Body composition of big brown bats. Representative results from bats that did not receive the entire dose of deuterium oxide, became torpid during the equilibration phase, bats with abnormally large fat mass and minimal lean mass, or bats under 3%−5% body fat as determine by DXA. The representative results of total body water, lean body mass, and body fat as determined by deuterium oxide dilution are shown in columns 5−8. Representative results of the lean body mass plus bone mineral content and body fat as determined by DXA are shown in columns 9−11.
Block | Species | Body weight (kg) |
D2O injected (g) |
Total body water (kg) |
Lean body mass (kg) |
Body fat mass (kg) |
Body fat mass (%) |
Daily water consumption (mL/day) |
Dietary Treatment |
1 | Felis Catus | 4.830 | 3.36 | 2.69 | 3.68 | 1.149 | 23.8 | 96.8 | Control |
2 | Felis Catus | 4.764 | 3.45 | 2.66 | 3.63 | 1.136 | 23.8 | 217.5 | High Moisture |
3 | Felis Catus | 4.727 | 3.25 | 2.50 | 3.41 | 1.314 | 27.8 | 125.1 | High Selenium |
Table 4: Body composition and water consumption in a single feline. Representative results of deuterium oxide dilutional technique for assessing the lean body mass, fat mass, and water consumption of one cat at three different time points during the study conducted by Hooper et al.9.
0.2 micron non-pyrogenic disk filter | Argos Technologies | FN32S | nylon, 30mm diameter, 0.22um, sterile |
1.5 mL conical microcentrifuge tubes | USA Scientific | 1415-9701 | 1.5 ml self-standing microcentrifuge tube, natural with blue cap |
10 mL sterile glass vial for injection | Mountainside Medical Equipment | MS-SEV10 | clear, sterile glass injection unit |
10 mL syringe | Becton Dickinson | 305219 | sterile 10 mL syringe individually wrapped |
100 mL sterile glass vial for injection | Mountainside Medical Equipment | AL-SV10020 | clear, sterile glass injection unit |
20 gauge needle | Exel | 26417 | needles hypodermic 20g x 1" plastic hub (yellow) / regular bevel |
22 gauge needle | Exel | 26411 | needles hypodermic 22g x 1" plastic hub (black) / regular bevel |
deuterium oxide | Sigma-Aldrich | 151882-25G | 99.9 atom % D |
isofluorane | Vetone | 3060 | fluriso isoflurane, USP |
OMNIC Spectra Software | ThermoFisher Scientific | 833-036200 | FT-IR standard software |
petroleum jelly | Vaseline | 305212311006 | Vaseline, 100% pure petroleum jelly, original, skin protectant |
plastic capillary tubes | Innovative Med Tech | 100050 | sodium heparin anticoagulant, 50 μL capacity, 30 mm length |
Sealed liquid spectrophotometer SL-3 FTIR CAF2 Cell | International Crystal Laboratory | 0005D-875 | 0.05 mm Pathlength |
sodium chloride | EMD Millipore | 1.37017 | suitable for biopharmaceutical production |
Thermo Electron Nicolet 380 FT-IR Spectrometer | ThermoFisher Scientific | 269-169400 | discontinued model, newer models available |
Body condition scoring systems and body condition indices are common techniques used for assessing the health status or fitness of a species. Body condition scoring systems are evaluator dependent and have the potential to be highly subjective. Body condition indices can be confounded by foraging, the effects of body weight, as well as statistical and inferential problems. An alternative to body condition scoring systems and body condition indices is using a stable isotope such as deuterium oxide to determine body composition. The deuterium oxide dilution method is a repeatable, quantitative technique used to estimate body composition in humans, wildlife, and domestic species. Additionally, the deuterium oxide dilution technique can be used to determine the water consumption of an individual animal. Here, we describe the adaption of the deuterium oxide dilution technique for assessing body composition in big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and for assessing water consumption in cats (Felis catis).
Body condition scoring systems and body condition indices are common techniques used for assessing the health status or fitness of a species. Body condition scoring systems are evaluator dependent and have the potential to be highly subjective. Body condition indices can be confounded by foraging, the effects of body weight, as well as statistical and inferential problems. An alternative to body condition scoring systems and body condition indices is using a stable isotope such as deuterium oxide to determine body composition. The deuterium oxide dilution method is a repeatable, quantitative technique used to estimate body composition in humans, wildlife, and domestic species. Additionally, the deuterium oxide dilution technique can be used to determine the water consumption of an individual animal. Here, we describe the adaption of the deuterium oxide dilution technique for assessing body composition in big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and for assessing water consumption in cats (Felis catis).
Body condition scoring systems and body condition indices are common techniques used for assessing the health status or fitness of a species. Body condition scoring systems are evaluator dependent and have the potential to be highly subjective. Body condition indices can be confounded by foraging, the effects of body weight, as well as statistical and inferential problems. An alternative to body condition scoring systems and body condition indices is using a stable isotope such as deuterium oxide to determine body composition. The deuterium oxide dilution method is a repeatable, quantitative technique used to estimate body composition in humans, wildlife, and domestic species. Additionally, the deuterium oxide dilution technique can be used to determine the water consumption of an individual animal. Here, we describe the adaption of the deuterium oxide dilution technique for assessing body composition in big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and for assessing water consumption in cats (Felis catis).