Determine sodium in bone and biokinetics of sodium in pig model by using in vivo neutron activation analysis

Sodium is an essential mineral in the human body that is vital for many body functions. The role of dietary sodium in hypertension and associated diseases has been widely accepted; however, few studies have been conducted on how sodium is stored and metabolized in the human body. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a compact neutron generator-based neutron activation analysis system for the in vivo quantification of sodium in pig models. Two 6-week-old male pigs were fed a high and low concentration sodium diet for 14 days. The in vivo bone sodium was measured with a deuterium–deuterium (DD)-109 M neutron generator-based irradiation system. The hind leg of pigs was irradiated for 10 min, and the gamma spectrum with 23Na was collected using high-efficiency and high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The in vivo sodium concentration in two male pigs was found to be (788 ± 11 ppm) and (785± 10 ppm) at the end of the dietary sodium period. There was no significant difference for in vivo bone sodium of low sodium (pig L) and high sodium diet pig (pig H) after 14 days of dietary sodium intervention. In contrast, the ex vivo bone sodium concentrations for pig L (1870 ± 11 ppm) and pig H (2029 ± 6 ppm) showed a significant difference in the bone sodium deposition in pig H and pig L as a response to the sodium diet. In conclusion, this experimental study shows that the IVNAA technique can be successfully used to quantify bone sodium in response to dietary interventions.