Fan Beam Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Body Composition Measurements in Piglets

Objectives: A piglet model was used to validate and cross validate the fan-beam (FB) dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) software vKH6 and to determine the predictive values of physiologic parameters (weight, length, age and gender) on body composition. Methods: Nineteen piglets (Group A: 600 to 21100 g) were used to validate the FB-DXA measurements of body composition based on chemical analysis of the carcass. An additional 22 piglets (Group B: 640 g to 17660 g) had FB-DXA measurements, and these values were compared to the predicted values generated from regression equations computed from group A piglets. Body composition for bone mass, lean mass and fat mass was based on ash weight, nitrogen and fat measured from three aliquots of homogenate from each carcass. Data from all piglets (n = 41) were used to determine the variations in body composition. Data analysis used regression, t test and analysis of variance. Results: Duplicate DXA (total weight TW, bone mineral content BMC, bone area BA, bone mineral density BMD, lean mass LM and fat mass FM) measurements were highly correlated (r = 0.98 to 1.00, p < 0.001 for all comparisons) and were not significantly different. No significant differences were found in the residuals from predicted versus measured DXA values between the larger and the smaller (<1.6 kg) piglets from Group A. For Group B piglets, the DXA measured TW of 5666 ± 5692 g (mean ± SD), LM (5063 ± 5048 g), FM (465 ± 510 g), BMC (138 ± 139 g), BA (486 ± 365 cm2) and BMD (0.235 ± 0.071 g/cm2) were highly significantly correlated with (r = 0.94 to 1.00, p < 0.001 for all comparisons) and were not significantly different from the predicted values. Data from all piglets (n = 41) showed that weight is the dominant predictor of whole body and regional body composition. Length, age or gender contributed to <2% of the variability of body composition. Conclusion: Body composition measurements using the FB DXA software vKH6 is highly reproducible. The software vKH6 is validated for use in a wide range of body weights and body composition, and cross-validated using a separate group of animals. Body weight is the dominant predictor of body composition in immature piglets.