title: Total calcium absorption is similar from infant formulas with and without prebiotics and exceeds that in human milk-fed infants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  1) To evaluate calcium absorption in infants fed a formula containing prebiotics (PF) and one without prebiotics (CF). 2) To compare calcium absorption from these formulas with a group of human milk-fed (HM) infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A dual tracer stable isotope method was used to assess calcium absorption in infants exclusively fed CF (n = 30), PF (n = 25) or HM (n = 19). Analysis of variance was used to analyze calcium intake, fractional calcium absorption, and the amount of calcium absorbed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Calcium intake (Mean ± SEM) for PF was 534 ± 17 mg/d and 557 ± 16 mg/d for CF (p = 0.33). Fractional calcium absorption was 56.8 ± 2.6 % for PF and 59.2 ± 2.3 % for CF (p = 0.49). Total calcium absorbed for PF was 300 ± 14 mg/d and 328 ± 13 mg/d for CF (p = 0.16). For HM infants calcium intake was 246 ± 20 mg/d, fractional calcium absorption was 76.0 ± 2.9 % and total calcium absorbed was 187 ± 16 mg/d (p <0.001, compared to either PF or CF).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite lower fractional calcium absorption of CF and PF compared to HM, higher calcium content in both led to higher total calcium absorption compared to HM infants. No significant effect of prebiotics was observed on calcium absorption or other markers of bone mineral metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Rice University, Houston, TX, USA. penni@rice.edu
authors.forename: Penni D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Hicks
authors.forename: Keli M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Hawthorne
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Berseth
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Marunycz
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Heubi
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Abrams
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002118:Calcium / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000737:chemistry*; D007553:Isotope Labeling; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human; D056692:Prebiotics
chemical_list: D056692:Prebiotics; D002118:Calcium