Probiotics (Bifidobacterium longum) Increase Bone Mass Density and Upregulate Sparc and Bmp-2 Genes in Rats with Bone Loss Resulting from Ovariectomy

Table 4

Effect of B. longum on the microstructure and BMD of the femur.

Parameters	Sham	OVX	OVX + B. longum	value
BV/TV (%)	73.66 ± 6.45^a	49.60 ± 5.69^b	60.55 ± 3.57^ab	0.025
Porosity (%)	24.84 ± 5.45^b	44.25 ± 3.98^a	34.85 ± 2.25^ab	0.026
Tb.Th (mm)	7.33 ± 0.65^a	4.83 ± 0.27^b	7.21 ± 0.48^a	0.004
Tb.Sp (mm)	5.48 ± 0.42	5.30 ± 0.37	6.03 ± 0.16	0.234
Tb.N (mm^−1)	0.12 ± 0.01^a	0.10 ± 0.01^b	0.09 ± 0.01^ab	0.040
BMD (g/cm^3)	1.06 ± 0.02^a	0.59 ± 0.07^b	0.89 ± 0.06^a	0.013

Ten-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were supplemented with 1 mL of B. longum (10⁸–10⁹ CFU) once a day for 16 weeks, starting 2 weeks after surgery, while sham and OVX groups received 1 mL of demineralized water. At the end of the study, dissected femurs were analyzed with a micro-CT scan analyzer. Values represent the mean ± SEM ( in each group).
BV/TV: bone volume/total volume; Tb.Th: trabecular thickness; Tb.Sp: trabecular separation; Tb.N: trabecular number; BMD: bone mass density.
^abValues with different letters in the same row are significantly different at based on one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test.