A fixed-dose combination of calcium and collagen, when taken daily along with vitamin D slows bone loss to a greater extent than calcium and vitamin D alone, in post-menopausal women vulnerable to osteoporosis.
The combination, known commercially as KoACT, provides 5 g of calcium-chelated, hydrolyzed collagen, along with 500 mg of elemental calcium and 200 IU of vitamin D in each capsule.
Bahram Arjmandi, PhD, RD, and colleagues at the Department of Nutrition, Food & Exercise Sciences at Florida State University, randomized 39 osteopenic, post-menopausal women to daily supplementation with KoACT or with equivalent doses of calcium carbonate and vitamin D without the collagen.
The objective was to determine how the two supplementation strategies compare in terms of impact on bone loss, bone strength and flexibility.
The investigators measured both total Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and BMD of the lumbar spine and hip at baseline, and also at 6 and 12 months using duel-energy x-ray absorptiometry. They also collected blood to measure serum biomarkers of bone metabolism such as tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) 5B, a marker of bone resorption, and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), an indicator of bone synthesis.
Dr. Arimandi presented the data at the 2014 Experimental Biology conference in the Spring.
KoACT prevented the 12-month loss of whole body BMD to a greater extent than calcium and vitamin D alone (-0.004 vs -0.011; P < 0.05). The investigators observed an overall 1% increase in total body BMD in the KoACT treated patients, compared with those in the control group. The KoACT group also showed slower rates of lumbar BMD loss.
The women in the KoACT group also had reduced levels of TRAP5B, and higher BAP/TRAP5B ratios at 6 months, suggesting a slower rate of bone resorption (Hooshmand S, et al. J Food Nutr Disord).
The FSU authors note that, “The infrastructure of bone, especially in the trabeculae, is rapidly depleted following 5 to 7 years post-menopause. Our overall findings suggest that supplementing the diets of osteopenic post-menopausal women with this calcium-chelated form of hydrolyzed collagen can improve whole-body BMD in a period as short as 3 months.”
The findings underscore the point that preventing or slowing progression of osteoporosis requires more than simply increasing availability of minerals like calcium. Clinicians need to look beyond BMD and consider interventions to slow the bone turnover process and to improve the health of the collagen matrix into which calcium is incorporated.
END
