Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33011890›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of applied physiology2021

The scaling of human basal and resting metabolic rates.

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

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of applied physiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Passage-Dependent Size Distributions of Human-Derived Cells: Implications for Metabolic Assays.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Interactive effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on metabolic rate.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024
    Review
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  8. Predicting resting energy expenditure: a critical appraisal.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2023
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Methodologies for energy evaluation of pig and poultry feeds: A review.Animal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui) · 2022
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. The development of accumulated OEuropean journal of applied physiology · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Heather M BowesCentre for Medical and Exercise Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
Catriona A BurdonCentre for Medical and Exercise Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
Nigel A S TaylorCentre for Medical and Exercise Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia. nigelastaylor@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3655-5249
University of Wollongong · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeIn 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.

methodsBasal 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).

resultsBoth 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 mass

conclusionIt 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.

Indexed as

Basal MetabolismBiological Variation, PopulationAdolescentAdultBody TemperatureBody WeightData Interpretation, StatisticalExerciseHumansMaleReference StandardsSupine PositionAllometryBasal metabolic rateBody massMetabolic rateOxygen consumptionScalingSize

Identifiers

PMID33011890
OpenAlexW3091263382

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.