A comparison of methods of assessment of body composition including neutron activation analysis of total body nitrogen.

Fourteen healthy men underwent determinations of total body nitrogen (TBN) by prompt gamma neutron activation analysis and total body potassium (TBK) by whole body counting to estimate the muscle and nonmuscle components of the fat-free body mass (FFBM) and their protein contents. Comparison of FFBM estimated from TBN and TBK (60.6 +/- 6.9 kg, mean +/- SD), densitometry (62.3 +/- 7.1 kg), TBK alone (62.2 +/- 8.0 kg) and TBW (63.9 +/- 7.8 kg) showed no differences among the techniques. Similarly, there were neither differences in fat mass nor percent body fat among the methods. Analysis of the chemical composition of FFBM of this group showed TBK/FFBM = 62.6 +/- 2.3 mEq/kg, TBW/FFBM = 74.6 +/- 0.2%, TBN/FFBM = 32.74 +/- 1.09 g/kg, protein/FFBM = 20.5+/- 0.7%. The calculated mineral content of the FFBM was 6.4%. These values are strikingly similar to the values calculated by direct chemical analysis. It was concluded that the combined TBN-TBK method is a valid technique for estimating body composition in man.