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Updated: Sep 28, 2026
Comprehensive Characterization of Tissue Mineralization in an Ex Vivo Model
Published on: September 27, 2024
Multicomponent methods: evaluation of new and traditional soft tissue mineral models by in vivo neutron activation
ZiMian Wang1, F Xavier Pi-Sunyer, Donald P Kotler
1Department of Medicine, Obesity Research Center, St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA. zw28@columbia.edu
Background:
Practical and accurate methods for quantifying the soft tissue mineral component of multicomponent fat-estimation models are needed.
Objectives:
The aims were to develop a new complete model for estimating soft tissue minerals based on measured total body water (TBW) and extracellular water (ECW) and a simplified new model based on TBW measurements only and to compare these estimates with those determined with 2 traditional models (ie, the Brozek and Selinger models) and with criterion estimates based on in vivo neutron activation (IVNA) analysis.
Design:
The subjects were 156 healthy adults and 50 patients with AIDS. Total body potassium, sodium, chlorine, and calcium were measured by IVNA; TBW by (3)H(2)O or D(2)O dilution; ECW by bromide dilution; and bone mineral by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
Results:
The mean (+/- SD) mass of total-body soft tissue minerals in healthy adults was 467 +/- 62 g with the IVNA model, 492 +/- 62 g with the new model, and 487 +/- 59 g with the simplified new model. Compared with the IVNA model, the complete and simplified new models overestimated soft tissue minerals by 5.4% and 4.6% (both P < 0.001), respectively. In contrast, the Brozek and Selinger models overestimated overall mean soft tissue minerals by 35% and 99% (both P < 0.001), respectively. Overall results for soft tissue mineral prediction with the 2 new models were less satisfactory for the patients with AIDS, although the results were better than those with the traditional models.
Conclusions:
The physiologically formulated complete new model for estimating soft tissue minerals provides the opportunity to upgrade the accuracy of current multicomponent models for estimating total body fat.
