Table 3.

Mean serum concentrations of organic acids and sugars analysed by Di-MS in kittens pre-gonadectomy (week −1) and post-gonadectomy (week 12) after supplementation with additional choline at 300 mg/kg BW^0·75 (CHOLINE, n 8) for 12 weeks compared with a control group (CONTROL, n 7) fed only the base diet (3310 mg choline/kg DM)

			CHOLINE (n 8)		CONTROL (n 7)
Metabolites (µM)		Week	LSM	sem	LSM	sem	P Group	P Time	P Group × Time
Organic acids	Lactic acid	–1	1415·27	171·55	1700·98	183·67	0·05	0·61	0·99
		12	1298·52		1588·00
	β-Hydroxybutyric acid	–1	57·29	13·61	56·74A	14·55	0·07	0·04	0·06
		12	59·92c		117·38Bd
	α-Ketoglutaric acid	–1	8·08A	0·99	7·71A	1·06	0·39	<0·001	0·23
		12	11·53B		13·74B
	Citric acid	–1	235·76	18·99	266·13	20·38	0·12	0·06	0·77
		12	269·76		311·42
	Butyric acid	–1	0·53	0·07	0·513	0·07	0·14	0·21	0·27
		12	0·36		0·55
	Propionic acid	–1	1·42	0·25	1·73	0·025	0·47	0·19	0·58
		12	1·18		1·15
	p-Hydroxyhippuric acid	–1	0·087	0·01	0·11	0·01	0·54	0·09	0·47
		12	0·071		0·07
	Succinic acid	–1	1·50	0·14	1·62	0·15	0·61	0·57	0·74
		12	1·66		1·66
	Fumaric acid	–1	1·10	0·15	1·20	0·16	0·43	0·38	0·85
		12	1·21		1·36
	Pyruvic acid	–1	10·18A	2·49	9·42A	2·66	0·36	0·002	0·23
		12	16·77B		22·42B
	Isobutyric acid	–1	2·64	0·38	2·90	0·41	0·89	0·10	0·60
		12	2·17		2·02
	Hippuric acid	–1	2·33	0·62	3·64	0·67	0·89	0·88	0·08
		12	3·36		2·41
	Methylmalonic acid	–1	0·37	0·04	0·36	0·05	0·35	0·21	0·28
		12	0·26		0·35
	Indole acetic acid	–1	2·22	0·38	2·72A	0·41	0·15	0·21	0·007
		12	2·92c		1·04Bd
	Uric acid	–1	10·48A	0·99	11·58A	1·06	0·53	0·001	0·69
		12	15·02B		15·32B
Sugars	Glucose	–1	15 427	1543·92	17 332	1655·75	0·96	0·75	0·27
		12	17 741		16 030

LSM, least square means.

Rows or columns with no superscript indicates no significant differences for the measured parameter.

Down a column, different upper-case superscript letters (A, B) denote significant differences (P < 0·05) following a Tukey’s post hoc analysis within group (CHOLINE or CONTROL) over time (week −1 to week 12).

Across a row, different lower-case letters (c, d) denote significant differences (P < 0·05) following a Tukey’s post hoc analysis between groups (CHOLINE and CONTROL) at one time point (week −1 or week 12).