Author(s)

Styliani Ziaka¹, Tânia Amorim², Maria Vliora³, Paraskevi Gkiata³, Konstantinos Mantzios³, Georgia Ntina¹, Eirini K.Kydonaki², Vasileios Gkizlis⁴, Yiannis Koutedakis^3,5*

¹Biomechanical Solutions, Karditsa, Greece.
²UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
³FAME Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, Trikala, Greece.
⁴Health Center of Mouzaki, Karditsa, Greece.
⁵Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Walsall, UK.

Introduction: Naturally based treatments for osteoporosis are currently limited. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether bovine colostrum supplementation can improve bone health in humans. Methods: In total 63 individuals volunteered in a 4-month supplementation project. They were stratified into three groups: 1) healthy post-menopausal women (n = 24); 2) individuals with osteopenia (n = 25); 3) people with osteoporosis (n = 14). Participants of each group were randomly assigned into two experimental sub-groups: a) the bovine colostrum (BC) supplementation (200 mL/day; 5 days/week); b) the placebo sub-group. Before and after the 4-month supplementation, blood samples were obtained and bone mineral density (BMD) was measured. Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) was performed on three different anatomical sites: lumbar spine (LS), left femur neck (FN), and left forearm (Arm). Bone health markers (bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP), osteocalcin, C-terminal telopeptide (CTX-I), deoxypyridinoline (DPD)) as well as immunological markers (interleukin 6 (IL6) and immunoglobulin E (IgE)), were assessed in blood serum with enzyme immunoassays, at baseline and 4-months after BC supplementation. Results: No significant changes were found in bone densitometry factors (p > 0.05), for all studied blood parameters and their calculated effect sizes. Conclusions: It is concluded that, as studied herein, BC does not seem to affect human bone health. This pilot study though warrant the need for further research into the efficacy of BC in patients with osteoporosis.

Nutraceutical Supplementation, Bone Nutrients, Osteoporosis, Bovine Colostrum, Post-Menopausal Women

Ziaka, S. , Amorim, T. , Vliora, M. , Gkiata, P. , Mantzios, K. , Ntina, G. , K.Kydonaki, E. , Gkizlis, V. and Koutedakis, Y. (2021) Nutraceutical Supplementation Based on Colostrum as Osteoporosis Treatment: A Pilot Study. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 12, 659-669. doi: 10.4236/fns.2021.127049.