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The scaling of human basal and resting metabolic rates

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Abstract

Purpose

In tachymetabolic species, metabolic rate increases disproportionately with body mass, and that inter-specific relationship is typically modelled allometrically. However, intra-specific analyses are less common, particularly for healthy humans, so the possibility that human metabolism would also scale allometrically was investigated.

Methods

Basal metabolic rate was determined (respirometry) for 68 males (18–40 years; 56.0–117.1 kg), recruited across five body-mass classes. Data were collected during supine, normothermic rest from well-rested, well-hydrated and post-absorptive participants. Linear and allometric regressions were applied, and three scaling methods were assessed. Data from an historical database were also analysed (2.7–108.9 kg, 4811 males; 2.0–96.4 kg, 2364 females).

Results

Both linear and allometric functions satisfied the statistical requirements, but not the biological pre-requisite of an origin intercept. Mass-independent basal metabolic data beyond the experimental mass range were not achieved using linear regression, which yielded biologically impossible predictions as body mass approached zero. Conversely, allometric regression provided a biologically valid, powerful and statistically significant model: metabolic rate = 0.739 * body mass0.547 (P < 0.05). Allometric analysis of the historical male data yielded an equivalent, and similarly powerful model: metabolic rate = 0.873 * body mass0.497 (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

It was established that basal and resting metabolic rates scale allometrically with body mass in humans from 10–117 kg, with an exponent of 0.50–0.55. It was also demonstrated that ratiometric scaling yielded invalid metabolic predictions, even within the relatively narrow experimental mass range. Those outcomes have significant physiological implications, with applications to exercising states, modelling, nutrition and metabolism-dependent pharmacological prescriptions.

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Abbreviations

AIC:

Akaike information criterion

CI:

Confidence interval

CV:

Coefficient of variance

r 2 :

Coefficient of determination

RMSE:

Root-mean-square error

SD:

Standard deviation

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported by grants from the Defence Science and Technology Group (Australia). The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Defence Science and Technology Group, or the Australian Government. HMB was supported by an International Postgraduate Tuition Award (University of Wollongong, Australia). NAST was supported during the writing of this manuscript by the Brain Pool Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science and Information, Communication and Technology (Grant number: 2019H1D3A2A01061171). Parts of this manuscript have been published in abstract form (Bowes et al. 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Medical and Exercise Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Heather M. Bowes, Catriona A. Burdon & Nigel A. S. Taylor

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  1. Heather M. Bowes
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  2. Catriona A. Burdon
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  3. Nigel A. S. Taylor
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Contributions

These experiments were undertaken at the Centre for Medical and Exercise Physiology (University of Wollongong, Australia). NAST conceived, and NAST, CAB and HMB designed and planned this research. HMB ran the experiments and, with CAB, was responsible for data collection and analysis. NAST assisted with data analysis and interpretation, and was responsible for the historical database and writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript and its submission for publication, and agree to be accountable for this work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All persons designated as authors qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify for authorship have been listed as authors.

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Correspondence to Nigel A. S. Taylor.

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Communicated by Jean-René Lacour.

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Bowes, H.M., Burdon, C.A. & Taylor, N.A.S. The scaling of human basal and resting metabolic rates. Eur J Appl Physiol 121, 193–208 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04515-1

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