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Scope Osteoporosis poses a health challenge especially for postmenopausal women. This study aims to explore nutritional strategies to counteract bone demineralization in ovarierectomized (OVX) rats. Methods and Results OVX rats (n = 49) are fed with one of six different diets, where two different calcium sources (dairy calcium or calcium carbonate) are provided alone or in combination with either inulin (5%) or lactose (0.5%). In addition, a calcium‐deficient diet is included. Calcium supplementation increases intestinal concentrations of short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and the abundance of fecal Acinetobacter and Propionibacterium. Accompanied with these effects, rats fed with calcium‐fortified diets have higher bone mineral density, bone mineral content and femur mechanical strength, lower serum levels of bone markers, and lower expression of calcium absorption‐related genes (transient receptor potential vanilloid type 6 (TRPV6), calcium‐binding protein (CaBP) compared with control. Inulin supplementation results in a markedly increased production of intestinal SCFAs, a decreased intestinal pH, an increased abundance of Allobaculum and Bifidobacterium, and an increased expression of Trpv6. Inulin and lactose show beneficial effects on spine bone. Conclusion Calcium modulates gut microbiome composition and function. A pronounced effect of inulin on metabolic activity in the gastrointestinal tract is evident, and lactose supplementation decreases jejunal pH that might be associated with slightly enhanced bone mineralization.

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Scope: Evidence supports that gut-modulating foods potentially can suppress bone loss in postmenopausal women. This study aims to investigate the effect of milk calcium-enriched milk, yogurt, and yogurt-inulin combination on the gut-bone association. Methods and results: A 6-week intervention study is conducted in ovariectomized rats. Four pastes containing milk calcium-fortified milk (M-Ca), milk calcium-fortified yogurt (Y-Ca), inulin-fortified Y-Ca (Y-I-Ca), or an isoconcentration of calcium carbonate (Ca-N), and a calcium-deficient paste are provided. M-Ca does not influence bone mineral density and content (BMD and BMC), femur mechanical strength, or femoral microstructure compared to Ca-N, but Y-Ca increases spine BMD. The serum metabolome reveals that Y-Ca modulated glycine-related pathways with reduced glycine, serine, and threonine. No additive effects of yogurt and inulin are found on bone parameters. Correlation analysis shows that increased lactobacilli and reduced Clostridiaceae members in Y-Ca is associated with an increased spine BMD. Increases in Bifidobacterium pseudolongum, Turicibacter, Blautia, and Allobaculum and gut short-chain fatty acids in Y-I-Ca are not reflected in bone parameters. Conclusion: Yogurt as calcium vehicle contributes to increased spine BMD concomitant with changes in the gut microbiome and glycine-related pathways, while adding inulin to yogurt does not affect bone mineralization in ovariectomized rats.

In the present study, we prepared A-and B-type polymorph-resistant starch spherulites (RSSs) with a wide range of crystallinity, and elucidated the relation between crystalline structure and faecal microbial fermentation outcomes. A-and B-type polymorphic RSSs displayed similar fermentation rate throughout entire process with final gas production of 11.8-13.2 mL, suggesting that the crystalline pattern and crystallinity cannot effectively control the fermentation rate of starches. The acetate and butyrate concentration of A-type RSS decreased with the increase of crystallinity respectively, and highly crystalline B-type RSS reduced the production of acetate (8.4 mM) and propionate (2.1 mM). RSSs with different crystalline types showed similar microbial community structure but distinct key bacteria species. A-type RSSs greatly promoted the abundance of butyrogenic bacteria (i.e., Roseburia faecis and Lachnospiraceae), whereas B-type RSSs tended to proliferate Prevotella copri associated with propionate production. Our findings shed new light on design and manufacture of starch-based functional ingredients with enhanced gut health.

Gut microbiota community of individuals is predominated by diverse fiber-utilizing bacteria, and might have distinct fermentation outcomes for a given dietary substrate. In this research, we isolated pea cell wall...