Effects of Multispecies Probiotic Supplementation on Serum Bone Turnover Markers in Postmenopausal Women with Osteopenia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial
What this study found
Multispecies probiotic supplementation significantly reduced the bone resorption marker CTX, but it did not significantly change the bone formation marker P1NP. In the probiotic arm, CTX decreased from 0.33 (0.12, 0.53) to 0.24 (0.11, 0.49) ng/mL, with a within-group p-value of 0.026 and a between-group mean difference p-value of <0.001; the placebo arm CTX change was not significant (p=0.18). P1NP did not differ significantly between groups (probiotic mean difference -2.69 [-27.47, 10.59] vs placebo 2.38 [-32.15, 18.78], p=0.06). The authors concluded that multispecies probiotics may have a…
- Study & population
- Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in postmenopausal women with osteopenia in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Intervention
- The active arm received one oral sachet daily before a meal for 12 weeks containing a multispecies probiotic blend: Lactobacillus reuteri GL-104 1.5 billion CFU, Lactobacillus paracasei MP-137 0.6 billion CFU, Lactobacillus rhamnosus MP108 0.6 billion CFU, Lactobacillus rhamnosus F-1 0.3 billion CFU, Lactobacillus…
- Key limitation
- The active arm was small (N=20) and follow-up was short at 12 weeks, so the findings are based on surrogate bone turnover markers rather than fractures or durable changes in bone density.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Probiotics have been found to have beneficial effects on bone metabolism. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the effects of multispecies probiotic supplementation on bone turnover markers were evaluated after 12 weeks. Forty postmenopausal women with osteopenia were included and randomly divided into two groups. The intervention group received multispecies probiotics, while the control group received identical placebo sachets daily. The baseline characteristics of both groups were similar. Still, the median serum bone resorption marker C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) was slightly higher in the multispecies probiotic group than in the placebo group (0.35 (0.12, 0.53) vs. 0.16 (0.06, 0.75); p-value = 0.004). After 12 weeks, the mean difference in serum CTX at baseline versus 12 weeks was significantly different between the multispecies probiotic and placebo groups (−0.06 (−0.29, 0.05) vs. 0.04 (−0.45, 0.67); p-value < 0.001). The multispecies probiotic group showed a significant decrease in serum CTX at 12 weeks compared with baseline (p-value 0.026). However, the placebo group showed no significant change in serum CTX (p-value 0.18). In conclusion, multispecies probiotics may have a preventive effect on bone through their antiresorptive effect in osteopenic postmenopausal women.