Feed digestibility and mineral balance of the diet of young mice kept in mouse cages inside or outside an isolator, using varied concentrations of sodium phytate.

Abstract

Young male mice of the C3H inbred strain were kept inside or outside a Trexler vinyl isolator and fed on three autoclaved purified diets which contained 0%, 1% or 5% sodium phytate. The feed N efficiency, the apparent digestibility of gross components of the diet, the balances of N, Ca, Mg and P, and the ash, Ca, Mg and P contents of bone were investigated for each group of mice. No significant differences in these parameters were found with respect to the location of the mouse cages inside or outside an isolator. Mice fed on 5% phytate diet, as compared with mice fed on 0% or 1% phytate diet, had a higher apparent digestibility of crude fat, and a lower apparent digestibility and retention rate of Mg. Urinary excretion and apparent digestibility of P in mice fed on 5% phytate diet were higher than in other groups of mice.