Scientists from the Florida State University and AIDP report that the calcium-collagen intervention was associated with an attenuation of the loss of whole body bone mineral density over 12 months, compared with the control group.
“Conventional thinking often entails the use of calcium and Vitamin D supplements; however, these random controlled clinical studies on KoACT demonstrate that calcium alone is not the best option,” said Dr Jennifer Gu, AIDP’s VP of research and development,
“It is medically important for post-menopausal women to know that achieving optimal bone health requires using a product, like KoACT, that 'mimics Mother Nature,' in stopping bone loss by helping to build bone strength and slows bone resorption, the destruction, disappearance, or dissolution of bones. Calcium alone is not the right answer.”
The data was presented earlier this year at Experimental Biology 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting. A spokesperson for AIDP confirmed that a manuscript has been submitted and it is going through peer-review.
From animals to humans
KoACT is a patented chelated compound of calcium and hydrolyzed collagen peptides, said the company, and data from animal and one human study support its potential to increase both bone strength and bone mineral density.
Earlier data from an animal study performed at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology reportedly indicated that the calcium-collagen combination could increase bone strength nearly 10% over a simple mixture of calcium and collagen alone.
The new human study was led by Bahram Arjmandi, PhD, RD, from The Florida State University, and performed in collaboration with AIDP. The company funded the study.
Study details
Dr Arjmandi and his co-workers recruited 39 postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density (osteopenia), and randomly assigned them to receive either 5 grams per day of KoACT providing 500 mg of elemental calcium in the form of calcium carbonate and 200 IU vitamin D or the control, which was 500 mg of calcium and 200 IU vitamin D.
Results showed that reduction in total body BMD were attenuated in the KoACT group when compared to the control group. AIDP's Dr Gu told us that there was no statistical differences between the groups on the BMD of the lumbar spine and hip, although the trend was consistent. "It seems that the most significant change was observed in the whole body of BMD," she said. "Interestingly, this was also true for the animal studies of KoAct and consistent with the idea that collagen is the most important structural protein in our skeleton system."
In addition, the calcium-collagen group had significantly reduced levels of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP5b) at six months as well as higher concentrations of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP)/TRAP5b, whereas there were no changes in control.
TRAP5b is an established marker of bone resorption (bone loss), while the ratio BAP/TRAP5b is a measure of the balance between bone regeneration versus bone loss.
“These results support use of CC in attenuating the loss of bone mass in osteopenic postmenopausal women,” concluded the researchers in their EB abstract.
Source: Experimental Biology 2014
“A calcium-collagen chelate dietary supplement prevents bone loss in postmenopausal women with osteopenia”
Authors: B.H. Arjmandi, M.L. Elam, S.A. Johnson, S. Hooshmand, J. Gu