Bone repair in calcium-deficient rats: comparison of xylitol+calcium carbonate with calcium carbonate, calcium lactate and calcium citrate on the repletion of calcium.

The potential value of xylitol in calcium therapy was evaluated by comparing the effect of dietary xylitol (50 g/kg diet) + calcium carbonate with the effects of calcium carbonate, calcium lactate and calcium citrate on bone repair of young male rats after the rats consumed for 3 wk a calcium-deficient diet (0.2 g Ca/kg diet). After this calcium-depletion period, the rats were fed for 2 wk one of four diets, each containing 5 g Ca/kg diet as one of the four dietary calcium sources. The diet of the control animals was supplemented with CaCO3 (5 g Ca/kg diet) throughout the study. The Ca-deficient rats showed low bone mass, low serum calcium and high serum 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, parathyroid hormone (1-34 fraction) and osteocalcin concentrations. They also excreted magnesium, phosphate and hydroxyproline in the urine in high concentrations, and had high bone alkaline phosphatase and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activities. Most of these changes were reversed by the administered of the calcium salts. The highest recoveries of femoral dry weight, calcium, magnesium and phosphate were observed in the groups receiving xylitol+CaCO3 and calcium lactate. Calcium lactate and calcium citrate caused low serum phosphate concentration compared with rats receiving CaCO3 and with the age-matched Ca-replete controls. Xylitol-treated rats excreted more calcium and magnesium in urine than did the other rats, probably due to increased absorption of these minerals from the gut. These results suggest that dietary xylitol improves the bioavailability of calcium salts.