Comparison of DEXA and QMR for assessing fat and lean body mass in adult rats

There are several techniques used to measure body composition in experimental models including dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and quantitative magnetic resonance (QMR). DEXA/QMR data have been compared in mice, but have not been compared previously in rats. The goal of this study was to compare DEXA and QMR data in rats. We used rats that varied by sex, diet, and age, in addition we compared dissected samples containing subcutaneous (pelt) or visceral fat (carcass). The data means were compared by focusing on the differences between DEXA/QMR data using a series of scatter plots without assuming that either method is more accurate as suggested by Bland and Altman. DEXA/QMR data did not agree sufficiently in carcass or pelt FM or in pelt LBM. The variation observed within these groups suggests that DEXA and QMR measurements are not comparable. Carcass LBM in young rats did yield comparable data once the data for middle-aged rats was removed. The variation in our data may be a result of different direct and indirect measures that DEXA and QMR technologies use to quantify FM and LBM. DEXA measures FM and estimates fat-free mass. In contrast, QMR uses separate equations of magnetic resonance to measure FM, LBM, total body water and free water. We found that QMR overestimated body mass in our middle-aged rats, and this increased the variation between methods. Our goal was to evaluate the precision of DEXA/QMR data in rats to determine if they agree sufficiently to allow direct comparison of data between methods. However DEXA and QMR did not yield the same estimates of FM or LBM for the majority of our samples.