The Effect of an Ipriflavone-Containing Supplement on Urinary N-Linked Telopeptide Levels in Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a significant health concern to our aging population. We report here the results of a pilot placebo-controlled trial of a dietary supplement containing ipriflavone, calcium, and vitamin D on a urinary marker of bone breakdown in postmenopausal women. Seven postmenopausal women not currently receiving hormone replacement therapy received either an ipriflavone-containing supplement or placebo for 3 months. Urinary N-linked telopeptides, a marker of bone breakdown, declined by 29% in those receiving the supplement, whereas an increase in this marker was observed in the group receiving the placebo. No changes were observed in salivary hormone measurements. Although our sample size was small, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that demonstrates changes in N-linked telopeptide levels as a result of consuming an ipriflavone-containing product. Our findings confirm those of other researchers that demonstrate the usefulness of ipriflavone at slowing the progression of bone loss and suggest that measuring N-linked telopeptides may be a useful tool to assess therapeutic efficacy.

[6]‐Gingerol induces bone loss in ovary intact adult mice and augments osteoclast function via the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 channel

“…For the measurement of ALP activity, mice calvarial osteoblasts at ∼80% confluence were trypsinized and 2 × 10 3 cells/well were seeded in 96‐well plates. Cells were treated with 6‐gingerol at various concentrations for 48 h in α‐MEM supplemented with 10% charcoal‐treated FBS, 10 mM β‐glycerophosphate, 50 μg/mL ascorbic acid, and 1% penicillin/streptomycin (osteoblast differentiation medium).…”

American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Medical Guidelines for the Clinical Use of Dietary Supplements and Nutraceuticals

“…Ipriflavone is a synthetic flavonoid devoid of estrogenic activity. It directly inhibits osteoclasts and possibly stimulates osteoblasts (64,65). Hagiwara et al (66) found that acceleration of osteoblastic differentiation by ipriflavone results from down-regulation of endothelin receptors.…”

Bioidentical hormone therapy: a review

“…37 Theoretically, because saliva is similar to a blood ultrafiltrate, salivary hormone concentrations should correlate with free/unbound serum concentrations. 37,38 In practice, these correlations vary, depending on the time of day, 39 diet, 40-50 the specific hormone tested, [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51] and other variables. The theory behind NHT presupposes that the results of salivary testing give the practitioner an idea of precisely which hormones are deficient and, hence, which need supplementation.…”