The effect of profound dehydration on electrical impedance of mouseskeletal muscle

To determine if electrical impedance myography (EIM) technique can still be used safely to monitor muscle in cases of severe dehydration, we measured the electrical impedance at 1 kHz-1 MHz (37 frequencies) of n=8 wild type mice during 48 h of fluid deprivation and compared to the results of n=8 mice that were provided with water ad libitum. Based on the relative change in the R₀ (8% p=0.59) parameter from the Cole impedance model, there is a nonsignificant change in regard to the muscle extracellular fluid when compared to the relative change of body weight and body water loss (19.6% p<;0.0001 and 26.1% p<;0.0001 respectively). The negligible changes of the phase at 50 kHz (1% p=0.88) confirm both the muscle fibers structural integrity and viability remained intact for that period of time. Accordingly, EIM can still be used to determine the status of muscle even during profound dehydration.