title: Computed tomographic assessment of body fat in beagles.
abstract: Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in small animals. To establish a computed tomographic (CT) method for assessment of visceral and subcutaneous fat content in the dog, CT analysis was performed in normal and obese beagles. Fat area was measured by the level detection method at varied attenuation ranges and compared with body fat content estimated by the deuterium oxide dilution method. Fat area measured at L3 using the attenuation range of -135/-105 Hounsfield unit had the best correlation with body fat content (r = 0.98). Regional fat distribution was almost the same between normal and obese dogs, with more fat accumulation at L1-S1 than T10-T13. Moreover, visceral and subcutaneous fat area could be estimated separately. This CT method may contribute to both the clinical diagnosis and the study of canine obesity, especially for studies in the relationship between body fat distribution and obesity-associated diseases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan. katsumi@vetmed.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishioka
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okumura
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sagawa
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nakadomo
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition; D004285:Dogs / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000662:veterinary