FIGURE 3.

Calcium absorption studies. a, Establishment of Caco‐2 cell monolayer model. Cells were seeded on 12‐well transwell culture plates. Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) was determined every other day by using a Millicell‐ERS system to assess the integrity of Caco‐2 cell monolayers. b, Calcium transport studies. The monolayers were then moved to a new plate containing 1.5 ml of HBSS buffer. 2 mg/ml CaCl₂ or 2 mg/ml MOL or MOLF in 0.5 ml HBSS buffer (pH 7.4) was added to the apical side and incubated at 37°C for 1 hr. Next, 1.0 ml of sample was extracted from the basolateral side at 30 and 60 min, and calcium contents were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Different letters indicate significant difference among the groups at the given time point (p < .05)