Kinetics of specific food intake and weight gain in rat

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Abstract
The expanded application of a recently developed time-invariant analytic function that relates food intake, growth (weight gain) and dietary nutrient concentration in the laboratory rat was reported. Data from 7 experiments were utilized, providing analysis of 3 stages of rat (Sprague-Dawley) growth (weanling, adult and pregnant) and a variety of nutrients: casein, lactalbumin, amino acid mix, thiamin and pyridoxine. For each experiment the rats were fed graded levels of a nutrient, ranging from 0% to a percentage well above the recommended amount, in an otherwise nutritionally adequate diet. Weight-specific weight gains and food intakes were calculated for each dietary group and fitted to the Gompertz equation. The resulting rate constants for each group were identical for weight gain and food intake. The rate constants were then fitted as functions of dietary nutrient concentration by the 4-parameter mathematical model for physiological responses. Kinetic rate constants could be characterized as functions of the dietary concentation of each nutrient tested. This approach offers new possibilities for the determination and optimization of dietary requirements. With this approach, food intake and growth may be characterized in a single rate constant, which varies as a function of dietary nutrient concentration.

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