Total body water and the exchangeable hydrogen. II. A review of comparative data from animals based on isotope dilution and desiccation, with a report of new data from the rat.

Total body water (TBW) determination by tritium space could be factitiously elevated by exchangeable H+ contained within water-soluble chemical configurations. Should this nonaqueous (molecular) exchangeable H+ turn out to be a large fraction of total exchangeable H+, TBW measurement by tritiated water (THO) dilution would display a systematic upward and non-random error. TBW was measured by THO dilution and subsequently by total body desiccation in 21 rats (weight 227+/-83 g, mean+/-SD). TBW was 71.38+/-2.4% by THO dilution and 70.20+/-1.5% by body desiccation. Analysis of variance of TBW vs. body weight showed a highly significant correlation both with desiccation (P less than 0.0005, r=-0.78) and dilution (P less than 0.03, r= -0.50). Convariance analysis of both methods showed no difference in slope (P greater than 0.9). There was a difference in variance (P less than 0.001) and means (P less than 0.03). Tritium space is 1.2% of body weight larger than TBW measured by desiccation. TBW measured by THO dilution gives a 1.71% overestimation of TBW as measured by desiccation. TBW measurement by THO dilution is accurate within less than 2% error. These findings have particular significance in the light of our theoretical model of the total nonaqueous exchangeable H+ in fat, protein, and carbodhydrate in the living vertebrate.