Effect of Taurine Feeding on Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in Rats - Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology - page 51

Table 6.2 Body weight change of experimental rats
Variables Control Taurine Signi fi cance

Initial body weight (g) 237.12 ± 4.88 1 242.00 ± 2.44 NS 2

Final body weight (g) 392.30 ± 28.11 380.78 ± 25.44

Weight gain (g) 158.50 ± 27.78 138.90 ± 31.35

1 Mean ± SD
2 NS not significantly different at p < 0.05

Table 6.3 Food intake and FER of rats fed during experimental period
Variables Control Taurine Signi fi cance

Food intake (g/day) 18.87 ± 5.28 1 21.79 ± 1.00 NS 2

FER 3 0.25 ± 0.16 0.15 ± 0.03

1 Mean ± SD
2 NS not significantly different at p < 0.05
3 NS

6.2.2 Statistics Analysis

Differences between two groups were analyzed by Student's unpaired t -test. All
results are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD). A p value of 0.05 or less
was considered statistically signi fi cant.

6.3 Results and Discussion

6.3.1 Weight Gain, Food Intake, and Food Ef fi ciency Ratio

Table 6.2 showed the weight at beginning, weight at sacrifice, and weight gain of
experimental rats. At beginning, there were no significant differences in weight
between groups with and without taurine supplementation. Taurine group was
approximately 12.4% lower in weight gain compared with control group; however,
this difference did not reach statistical significance. Taurine supplementation did not
affect food intake and food efficiency ratio (FER) in experimental rats (Table 6.3 ).

6.3.2 Serum Ca and P Concentrations

The concentrations of serum Ca and P were not significantly different between the
experimental group (Table 6.4 ). The mean concentrations of serum Ca were
10.34 ± 0.16 and 9.71 ± 0.30 (mg/dl) for the control and taurine group, respectively.