True Calcium Absorption in the Intestine Is Enhanced by Fructooligosaccharide Feeding in Rats

Manuscript received 27 March 1998. Initial reviews completed 8 May 1998. Revision accepted 19 June 1998.

Tomio Morohashi, Tsuneyoshi Sano^*, Atsutane Ohta, and Shoji Yamada

Departments of Pharmacology and ^* Oral Anatomy, School of Dentistry, Showa University, Shinagawa-ku Tokyo 142-8555, Japan and  Bioscience Laboratories, Meiji Seika Kaisha, Sakado 350-0289, Japan

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) have been shown to stimulate apparent calcium absorption in the intestine. In this study, we examined the effect of FOS on true calcium absorption using the calcium balance in combination with the ⁴⁵Ca kinetics method. Sixteen 45-d-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups, a control group (n = 8) and a FOS group (n = 8). The diet fed to the FOS group contained 5% FOS, at the expense of half of the sucrose in the control diet. After an adaptation period (3 d) and a free-access period (3 d) that were used to estimate the amount of food required for pair-feeding on the basis of calcium, all of the rats were pair-fed throughout the experiment from the age of 51 d. A constant amount of calcium was fed to the rats in each group (95 mg /d). At age 60 d, a 3-d metabolic study was started by the intravenous injection of ⁴⁵Ca. Several variables were calculated on the bases of measurements of calcium intake, calcium in feces and serum, and ⁴⁵Ca in feces, urine and serum. Both true and apparent calcium absorption in the intestine (Vad and Vna) and urinary calcium were significantly greater in rats that had been fed FOS. There were no differences between the groups in endogenous net calcium excretion into feces (Vf; Vad  Vna). The calcium balance was also enhanced by FOS. Calcium balance in the FOS group was significantly correlated with the absorbed calcium (r² = 0.936, P < 0.01), as was that in the control group (r² = 0.994, P < 0.01). These results suggest that the increased true calcium absorption and balance produced by FOS feeding might improve bone calcification.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 10 October 1998, pp. 1815-1818
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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