Accuracy and precision of lumbar bone mineral content by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in live female monkeys.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to determine the in vivo bone mineral content (BMC) of lumbar vertebrae in 20 feral adult female cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis). The ash weight of the third lumbar vertebra (L3) was compared to the measured L3BMC of the in vivo DXA analyses. Correlation between the estimated L3BMC by DXA and the actual ash weight was significant (r = 0.965, P less than 0.01); however, DXA methodology underestimated ash weight on the average of 6.2%. Correlation was significant between two sequential in vivo DXA scans (r = 0.988, P less than 0.001). Noninvasive in vivo DXA was a fast, precise, and effective method for measuring the lumbar BMC in female cynomolgus macaques.