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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Bone Research
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1487998
This article is part of the Research Topic Endocrine Imbalances of Mineral Ions and Vitamins in Chronic Disease Pathogenesis View all 8 articles

Effects of probiotic supplementation on bone health in postmenopausal women: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
Fang Wang Fang Wang Wei Wei Wei Wei Peng Ju Liu Peng Ju Liu *
  • Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The beneficial effects of probiotic supplementation on bone health in postmenopausal women require further validation.Objective: This study systematically reviewed and conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the relationship between probiotic supplementation and changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover markers (BTMs) among postmenopausal women.Methods: A systematic search was conducted across four databases to retrieve data on lumbar spine BMD, hip BMD, collagen type 1 cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTX), receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL), osteocalcin (OC), osteoprotegerin (OPG), N-terminal propeptide of type 1 procollagen (P1NP), and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) in postmenopausal women. Eligible RCTs were quantitatively analyzed using random-effects meta-analyses. Additional analyses, including subgroup, sensitivity, and meta-regression analyses, were performed.Results: Twelve RCTs involving 1183 postmenopausal women were included. Compared with the control group, postmenopausal women who received probiotic supplementation showed significantly greater BMD in both the lumbar spine (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.14 to 1.05) and the hip (SMD = 0.74, 95%CI 0.15 to 1.33).Additionally, probiotic supplementation was associated with reduced levels of CTX (SMD = -1.51, 95%CI -1.88 to -0.41) and BALP (SMD = -1.80, 95%CI -2.78 to -0.81). No significant differences were found between the probiotic and control groups in terms of other BTMs.Subgroup analyses revealed that the increase in BMD due to probiotic supplementation was 3 more significant in postmenopausal women with osteopenia than in those with osteoporosis. The meta-analysis results for both lumbar spine and hip BMD remained robust after conducting sensitivity analyses and meta-regressions.Supplementation with probiotics may increase BMD among postmenopausal women, with stronger evidence in women with osteopenia than osteoporosis. Further RCTs are suggested to confirm and refine these findings.

    Keywords: probiotic, postmenopausal women, Osteoporosis, osteopenia, Bone, Bone turnover marker

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 17 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Wei and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Peng Ju Liu, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.