Proteins body composition

Assessing the outcome of EN includes monitoring objective measures of body composition, protein and energy balance, and subjective outcome for physiologic muscle function and wound healing. 

The volume of distribution of many drugs is significantly increased or decreased in patients with CKD. Changes result from altered protein or tissue binding, or pathophysiologic alterations in body composition (e.g., fractional contribution of total body water to total body weight). 

A number of procedures used to determine protein quality involve bioassays. Bioassays require feeding live animals protein ingredients for a specified period of time, and then estimating the nutritive value of the protein. Two such assays are the rat-based protein efficiency ratio (PER) bioassay and the human nitrogen balance assay (Dimes et al., 1994). Animal feeding experiments require chemical analyses of both the dietary inputs and then the metabolic output of the animal (e.g., body composition analysis, fecal sample analysis, collection, and assay for urine) from which the efficiency of protein metabolism can be predicted as well as how the protein supports animal growth and cell maintenance. 

Fluorescence microspectrophotometry typically provides chemical information in three modes spectral characterization, constituent mapping in specimens, and kinetic measurements of enzyme systems or photobleaching. All three approaches assist in defining chemical composition and properties in situ and one or all may be incorporated into modem instruments. Software control of monochrometers allows precise analysis of absoiption and/or fluorescence emission characteristics in foods, and routine detailed spectral analysis of large numbers of food elements (e.g., cells, fibers, fat droplets, protein bodies, crystals, etc.) is accomplished easily. The limit to the number of applications is really only that which is imposed by the imagination - there are quite incredible numbers of reagents which are capable of selective fluorescence tagging of food components, and their application is as diverse as the variety of problems in the research laboratory. 

It is possible to predict what happens to Vd when fu or fur changes as a result of physiological or disease processes in the body that change plasma and/or tissue protein concentrations. For example, Vd can increase with increased unbound toxicant in plasma or with a decrease in unbound toxicant tissue concentrations. The preceding equation explains why because of both plasma and tissue binding, some Vd values rarely correspond to a real volume such as plasma volume, extracellular space, or total body water. Finally interspecies differences in Vd values can be due to differences in body composition of body fat and protein, organ size, and blood flow as alluded to earlier in this section. The reader should also be aware that in addition to Vd, there are volumes of distribution that can be obtained from pharmacokinetic analysis of a given data set. These include the volume of distribution at steady state (Vd]SS), volume of the central compartment (Vc), and the volume of distribution that is operative over the elimination phase (Vd ea). The reader is advised to consult other relevant texts for a more detailed description of these parameters and when it is appropriate to use these parameters. 

Measurements of body composition consist of direct and indirect methods. Direct methods include measures of body protein, water, fat, and ash (minerals). An alternative direct approach is measurement of individual tissue weights. While these methods are unambiguous and preferred, they are generally limited to studies with animals. In non-sacrificial beings, direct determinations of tissue weights are impossible, and determinations of body composition are restricted to use of indirect, noninvasive methods. 

Drug distribution is affected by many factors/ including plasma or tissue protein binding/ body weight/ body composition/ and body fluid spaces (8). Of these/ total body weight/ muscle masS/ and fat composition are the major determinants of drug distribution/ and women may differ from men in both of these factors. 

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