In the present study, the influences of diets (i.e. chow and AIN-93 diets) on the interpretation of various fecal parameters including viable microbiota, moisture, weight, and short-chain fatty acids in rats fed different amounts of inulin (0.5-2 g/kg). Eight groups of rats (n = 8/group) were fed, for 4 weeks, chow or AIN-93 diets with or without inulin supplementation. Fecal samples were analyzed for different fecal parameters. After a 2-week adaptation, apparent differences in some fecal parameters were observed between the chow and AIN-93 diet groups. Throughout the 4-week intervention period, significantly (p < 0.05) higher Lactobacillus spp. counts, fecal moisture (∼2.7-fold), and fecal weight (∼5.8-fold) were observed with chow diet over AIN-93 diet. More specifically, significant elevations in the levels of Bifidobacterium spp., Lactobacillus spp., fecal moisture, and fecal weight could be observed at low-dose (0.5 g/kg) of inulin in chow diet groups, while most of these changes could merely be seen at medium-dose (1 g/kg) in AIN-93 diet groups. These results demonstrated that the choice of experimental diets would affect the comparison of fecal parameters as well as the interpretation of effective dosage of prebiotic in intestinal health assessments.

中文翻译：

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膳食成分对菊粉喂养大鼠各种粪便参数解释的影响

在本研究中，饮食（即 chow 和 AIN-93 饮食）对喂食不同量菊粉（0.5-2克/公斤）。8 组大鼠 (n = 8/组) 喂食 4 周的食物或 AIN-93 饮食，添加或不添加菊粉。分析粪便样本的不同粪便参数。经过 2 周的适应后，在食物组和 AIN-93 饮食组之间观察到一些粪便参数的明显差异。在整个 4 周的干预期间，显着 (p < 0.05) 较高的乳酸杆菌属。在 AIN-93 饮食中观察到食物计数、粪便水分（~2.7 倍）和粪便重量（~5.8 倍）。更具体地说，双歧杆菌属水平显着升高，低剂量 (0.5 g/kg) 菊粉可观察到乳杆菌属、粪便水分和粪便重量，而这些变化大多仅在中等剂量 (1 g/kg) 时可见。 AIN-93 饮食组。这些结果表明，实验饮食的选择会影响粪便参数的比较以及益生元在肠道健康评估中有效剂量的解释。