PRINCIPLE

OF BICARBONATE UREA METHOD

 A method based on the principle of

isotopic dilution of infused labelled
bicarbonate, and the assumption
that the specific activity of urinary
urea ( ER Gibney et all, 2003)
An indicator of CO2 production within
the body

 The extent of isotopic dilution

depends on the rate of entry of
labelled CO2, infused as bicarbonate,
relative to the rate of endogenous
CO2 production
When CO2 production is high, the
enrichment or specific activity of CO2
in urinary urea is low, and vise versa