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Updated: May 12, 2026

Using Deuterium Oxide as a Non-Invasive, Non-Lethal Tool for Assessing Body Composition and Water Consumption in Mammals
Published on: February 20, 2020
Deuterium oxide dilution: a novel method to study apical water layers and transepithelial water transport
Daniel Neubauer1, Jonas Korbmacher, Manfred Frick
1Institute of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
Abstract:
Lung epithelia regulate the water flux between gas filled airways and the interstitial compartment in order to maintain organ function. Current methodology to assess transepithelial water transport is limited. We present a D2O dilution method to quantify submicroliter volumes of aqueous solutions on epithelial cell layers. Evaluating D2O/H2O mixtures using mid-infrared (2-25 μm) attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy, with a resolution of 0.06% vol/vol change, corresponding to 24 nL, was achieved. Using this method, we demonstrate that water transport across NCI-H441 lung epithelial cell layers and apical surface liquid (ASL) volumes are coupled to dexamethasone dependent amiloride-sensitive ion transport. However, contrary to current dogma, electrogenic transport is not rate-limiting for water transport. This clearly indicates the need to directly assess net water rather than ion transport across epithelial cell layers. The presented D2O dilution method enables such direct and quick quantification of transepithelial water transport with high resolution.
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