Table 3.

Effect of dietary fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, and calcium on faecal lactate, calcium, and phosphate excretion before infection‡

	Lactate (μmol/day)	Calcium (μmol/day)	Phosphate (μmol/day)
Low calcium
Control	2.4 (0.3)	109 (13)	113 (8)
Inulin	6.9 (1.6)	28 (3)*	64 (6)*
FOS	6.4 (2.1)	30 (6)*	60 (5)*
High calcium
Control	9.4 (2.6)†	766 (30)†	468 (40)†
Inulin	21.3 (4.3)†	619 (39)†	374 (29)†
FOS	26.9 (7.9)†	615 (35)†	367 (42)†

‡Lactic acid was measured using a colorimetric enzymatic kit. Calcium and phosphate were analysed by ICP-AES. Results are expressed as mean (SEM) (n = 7 in the high calcium FOS group and n = 8 in the other diet groups).

*Significantly different from the low calcium/control group (p<0.05); †significantly different from its low calcium counterpart (p<0.05).