Measurement of respiratory water loss in newborn lambs

A flow-through system for measurement of respiratory water loss, providing data on oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production, is described. The system uses a mass spectrometer, specially equipped with a water channel, for analysis of gas concentrations. To avoid condensation of water vapour, the tubing in the flow-through system is heated. The method was tested by evaporating known amounts of water, and was found to be very accurate with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. Measurements were made in 10 fullterm lambs of varying postnatal age (4-15 days) and a mean respiratory water loss (RWL) of 11.7 mg kg-1 min-1 was found at rest. The RWL decreased with increasing postnatal age, as did oxygen consumption. The RWL at rest was influenced by the ambient relative humidity, with higher values at lower humidities.