• B Selma Mohammed, David A Fields, Bettina Mittendorfer, Andrew R Coggan, and Samuel Klein.
• Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Sciences and Center for Human Nutrition, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA.
• Metab. Clin. Exp. 2004 Jul 1;53(7):875-8.

AbstractSyringe pumps are traditionally used to infuse tracers in metabolic research because they are perceived to be more accurate and precise than peristaltic pumps. This study evaluated the accuracy (actual v programmed infusion rate) and precision (reproducibility of infusion) of a peristaltic pump (Gemini PC 2; IMED, San Diego, CA) and a syringe pump (Model 22; Harvard Apparatus, Natick, MA) for metabolic research. In one protocol, saline delivery was measured in vitro in 5 trials at 4 flow rates: 3, 30, 150, and 300 mL/h. In the second protocol, basal glycerol rate of appearance (Ra) was determined in vivo in 5 women on 2 consecutive days. On day 1, [2-(13C)]glycerol was infused with 1 pump and [1,1,2,3,3-(2H5)]glycerol with the other. On day 2, the opposite pattern was used. The accuracy of the 2 pumps was the same (error approximately 2%). In addition, both the syringe and the peristaltic pumps were very precise, with coefficients of variation (CV) <1% at all flow rates. Glycerol Ra values were the same when tracer was infused with either a syringe or peristaltic pump on day 1 and day 2: 4.1 +/- 1.7 (syringe pump) and 4.2 +/- 1.9 (peristaltic pump) micromol. kg fat mass (FM)(-1). min(-1) on day 1; 4.2 +/- 1.2 (syringe pump) and 4.2 +/- 1.3 (peristaltic pump) micromol. kg FM(-1). min(-1) on day 2. These data demonstrate that both syringe and peristaltic pumps are very accurate and precise across a large range of flow rates. Moreover, the assessment of in vivo substrate kinetics in human subjects is the same when either pump is used to infuse isotope tracers.

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