Intestinal Ca absorption from the diet consumed during one night was measured in male rats fed a normal (0.5%) Ca, low fiber (3% cellulose) diet by determining the decrease in 47Ca/47Sc ratio between diet and feces. One-half of the rats had been cecectomized 9 weeks previously at 14 weeks of age. Calcitriol injections, given intraperitoneally the morning of the experiment, stimulated fractional intestinal Ca absorption 2.5-fold in intact rats (16.9 +/- 2.0% to 42.2 +/- 1.8%) and 2.3-fold in cecectomized rats (20.1 +/- 1.4% to 46.8 +/- 1.2%). Similar results were obtained when the data were calculated in terms of total Ca absorption expressed as mg/day. Thus, although the cecum can absorb Ca when diets contain large amounts of digestible fiber, cecectomy does not influence the stimulation of intestinal Ca absorption induced by calcitriol in vitamin D-replete rats fed a low fiber diet.

Intestinal calcium (Ca) absorption was measured under noninvasive conditions in both normally cycling and ovariectomized rats by determining the decrease in 47Ca/47Sc ratio between diet and feces. In 32-wk-old rats fed a 1.4% Ca diet, both fractional and total intestinal Ca absorption varied during the estrous cycle (p < 0.03), being highest during estrus and lowest during the second day of diestrus. Similarly, in 36-wk-old rats fed a 0.11% Ca diet, both fractional and total intestinal Ca absorption varied during the estrous cycle (p < 0.001), being highest during estrus and lowest during the first day of diestrus. In both studies, Ca absorption in ovariectomized rats was identical to the mean values for all of the cycling rats. Serum zinc (Zn) levels, but not those of Ca, phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg), varied during the estrous cycle when measured in 37-wk-old rats fed the 0.11% Ca diet.

Lactulose is a disaccharide analogue of lactose that is resistant to metabolism in the small intestine but not in the large intestine. The effects of lactulose and other sugars on intestinal Ca absorption were determined from the decrease in the 47Ca:47 Sc ratio between diet and feces after feeding male rats diets containing these sugars during a single night. Dietary lactulose was more potent than lactose in stimulating Ca absorption and was effective between 5 and 38 wk of age. The component sugars of lactulose, galactose and fructose, did not influence Ca absorption when provided together at concentrations equimolar to that of lactulose. The stimulation of Ca absorption by dietary lactulose increased as dietary Ca concentration was raised and was not influenced by prior injections of calcitriol. Lactulose must be present in the same meal as Ca to stimulate Ca absorption, but this stimulation was lost if the rats were fed lactulose continuously for 2 or 7 d prior to the test diet. Other sugars thought to be poorly absorbed in the small intestine (xylitol, lactobionate, arabinose, raffinose, pyroglutamate, sorbitol, gluconate and raftilose) stimulated Ca absorption to an identical extent as lactulose. Cecectomy did not influence the enhancement of Ca absorption by lactulose. These results indicate that sugars resistant to metabolism and absorption in the small intestine but not the large intestine stimulate Ca absorption in the small intestine.