Determination of Body Water Content Using Trace Levels of Deuterium Oxide and Infrared Spectrophotometry

Abstract

Abstract A procedure is described for the determination of total body water content of human subjects using 11- to 12-gm. doses of deuterium oxide (D2O), vacuum sublimation of serum samples, and quantitation of the deuterium by infrared spectrophotometry at 2510 cm.-1. The coefficient of variation based on day-to-day procedure reproducibility is less than 2%. D2O added to serum is completely recovered in the sublimation and assay operations. The D2O dilution procedure compares favorably with the tritium dilution technic, with values obtained on 45 out of 46 individuals falling within the ±3 combined S.D. limits for the two methods. The significance of the total body water data is discussed.