Body surface area measurement in juvenile miniature pigs using a computed tomography scanner

The use of miniature pigs in non-clinical studies for medical drugs or devices has gradually been increasing in recent years. It is anticipated that the use of juvenile miniature pigs in laboratory practice will also increase. Therefore, it is important to investigate various parameters of juvenile miniature pigs. The body surface area (BSA) of an organism is one of the important parameters for evaluating physiological functions. In drug development, normalization by BSA is an appropriate method for extrapolating doses between species. The BSA of animals has generally been estimated by multiplying the k value by 2/3 of the power of the body weight (BW) (Meeh's formula). To our knowledge, the BSA of juvenile miniature pigs has not as yet been reported. In this study, we measured the BSA of 13 miniature pigs less than 1 month old, using a computed tomography scanner and 3-dimensional analysis software. The measurement results showed the BSAs of these 13 juvenile miniature pigs to be in the range of 386 to 1,672 cm2(working BW range: 278 to 3,200 g). After BSA determination, the k values were calculated from the BSA and the BW. The mean calculated k value was 8.58. We advocate using Meeh's formula, as follows, for estimating the BSA of juvenile miniature pigs less than 1 month old (before weaning): BSA (cm2)=8.58 × BW (g)2/3.