Researching probiotics and strong bones

La Trobe researchers are entering into a three-years collaboration with global probiotics company Probi to study bone health.

The collaboration will include a clinical trial that is aiming to investigate the effect of Probi Osteo* in an Australian female population. Supported by novel techniques, the modulatory role of the gut microbiome and Probi Osteo will be further explored on bone metabolism, microarchitecture and density.

La Trobe nutrition researcher Associate Professor George Moschonis, will lead the study.

“Recent scientific evidence has consistently highlighted the important role of the gut microbiome on bone health," Associate Professor Moschonis said.

"Considering these breakthrough discoveries, we are excited to contribute our strengths into further extending the current knowledge and produce additional high-quality research evidence  that will shed more light on the effectiveness of probiotics in the reduction of bone loss”.

After the age of 30, bone loss exceeds bone formation, resulting in a gradual loss of bone density. For women, bone resorption – and consequently bone loss – accelerates, as estrogen levels decline during menopause. This acceleration increases the risk of osteoporosis and resulting fractures.

Probi Director Research and Development & Clinical Operations, Titti Niskanen, said the study would build on an earlier work.

“We have excellent clinical results from our 2018 study, and now the time has come to repeat the study. We work closely with international partners and academic groups to conduct state-of-the-art clinical trials and we confirm our findings and the health effects by multiple studies. With this collaboration we aim to continue and expand our research in the bone health area – an area where Probi has done pioneering work and has earlier completed a successful clinical trial showing significantly reduced bone loss by taking Probi® Osteo”.

Probi CEO Tom Rönnlund said: “Bone health is a relatively new area within probiotics, and in alignment with Probi’s mission of being “First in Probiotics”, this collaboration proves our dedication to document our products in multiple clinical trials and our curiosity in understanding the mechanisms by which our probiotic strains can exert their beneficial effects”.

Probi

Probi® is a global company focused exclusively on researching, manufacturing, and delivering probiotics for  supplements and functional food. Probi are experts at managing stable, live bacteria from R&D through every  stage of the manufacturing process and are dedicated to making the health-enhancing benefits of probiotics  available to people everywhere. Probi's health concepts, formulations, and formats are supported by robust clinical  documentation. Since being founded in 1991 at Sweden’s Lund University, Probi has expanded its operations to  more than 40 markets and holds more than 400 patents globally.

* Probi launched the Probi® Osteo concept in 2018, based upon the combination of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum HEAL9 (HEAL9™), Lactiplantibacillus plantarum HEAL19, and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei 8700:2. Probi Osteo is clinically proven to maintain healthy bones in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of 249 healthy women aged 47–69 years. The clinical study showed 78% decreased bone loss compared to placebo, and the study was published in The Lancet.

Media contact | Kathryn Powley | 0456 764 371 | k.powley@latrobe.edu.au