Abstract
The human microbiota functions at the interface between diet, medication-use, lifestyle, host immune development and health. It is therefore closely aligned with many of the recognised modifiable factors that influence bone mass accrual in the young, and bone maintenance and skeletal decline in older populations. While understanding of the relationship between micro-organisms and bone health is still in its infancy, two decades of broader microbiome research and discovery supports a role of the human gut microbiome in the regulation of bone metabolism and pathogenesis of osteoporosis as well as its prevention and treatment. Pre-clinical research has demonstrated biological interactions between the microbiome and bone metabolism. Furthermore, observational studies and randomized clinical trials have indicated that therapeutic manipulation of the microbiota by oral administration of probiotics may influence bone turnover and prevent bone loss in humans. In this paper, we summarize the content, discussion and conclusions of a workshop held by the Osteoporosis and Bone Research Academy of the Royal Osteoporosis Society in October, 2020. We provide a detailed review of the literature examining the relationship between the microbiota and bone health in animal models and in humans, as well as formulating the agenda for key research priorities required to advance this field. We also underscore the potential pitfalls in this research field that should be avoided and provide methodological recommendations to facilitate bridging the gap from promising concept to a potential cause and intervention target for osteoporosis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 273–284 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Calcified Tissue International |
| Volume | 110 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 6 Dec 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The workshop was supported by the Royal Osteoporosis Society’s (ROS). The authors would like to thank Dr. Kaumal Baig Mirza who assisted with drawing of the illustrations.
Funding Information:
Stuart H. Ralston reports non-personal fees from UCB, Pfizer, Abbvie, Cellgene, Kyowa-Kirin, Alexion, Amgen, Cellgene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Thornton & Ross, Sanofi-Genzyme, Roche and Sandoz and grants from Kyowa Kirin and Astra Zeneca, outside the submitted work. NCH reports personal fees, consultancy, lecture fees and honoraria from Alliance for Better Bone Health, AMGEN, MSD, Eli Lilly, Servier, Shire, UCB, Consilient Healthcare, Kyowa Kirin and Internis Pharma, outside the submitted work. Cyrus Cooper reports consultancy, lecture fees and honoraria from AMGEN, GSK, Alliance for Better Bone Health, MSD, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Servier, Medtronic and Roche outside the scope of the submitted work. Kate A. Ward reports honoraria from Abbot Nutrition, Pfizer Healthcare outside the submitted work. Juliet E. Compston reports honoraria from Amgen and UCB outside the scope of the submitted work. CO is inventor of a patent concerning the use of probiotic strains for use in treatment or prevention of osteoporosis (EPA EP2981274A4). Owen Cronin, Susan A. Lanham‑New, Bernard M. Corfe, Celia L. Gregson, Andrea L. Darling, Kourosh R. Ahmadi, Philippa S. Gibson, Jon H. Tobias, Maria H. Traka, Megan Rossi, Claire Williams, Nicholas C. Harvey, Kevin Whelan, André G. Uitterlinden, and Paul W. O’Toole have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
Keywords
- Osteoporosis
- Microbiome
- Immunology
- Probiotics
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This is the final published version of the article (version of record). It first appeared online via Springer at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-021-00924-2 . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.