Melbourne, Victoria, Australia—Probi is entering a three-year collaboration with researchers at La Trobe University at Australia to study bone health, according to a press release.

“Bone health is a relatively new area within probiotics, and in alignment with Probi’s mission of being ‘First in Probiotics,’ this collaboration proves our dedication to document our products in multiple clinical trials and our curiosity in understanding the mechanisms by which our probiotic strains can exert their beneficial effects,” explained Tom Rönnlund, CEO, Probi.

Osteo—a combination of two strains ofLactiplantibacillus plantarumand one strain ofLacticaseibacillus paracasei—has already been shown to maintain healthy bones in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of 249 healthy women aged 47-69 years. The study, published inThe Lancet, showed 78% decreased bone loss compared to placebo.

“We have excellent clinical results from our 2018 study, and now the time has come to repeat the study,” said Titti Niskanen, Director of R&D and Clinical Operations at Probi, in the press release. “We work closely with international partners and academic groups to conduct state-of-the-art clinical trials and we confirm our findings and the health effects by multiple studies. With this collaboration we aim to continue and expand our research in the bone health area – an area where Probi has done pioneering work and has earlier completed a successful clinical trial showing significantly reduced bone loss by taking Probi Osteo."

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The collaboration between Probi and La Trobe University will include a clinical trial that is aiming to investigate the effect of Probi Osteo in an Australian female population. The study will explore the interaction between the gut microbiome and bone metabolism, microarchitecture, and density. It will be headed by Associate Professor George Moschonis.

“Recent scientific evidence has consistently highlighted the important role of the gut microbiome on bone health,” Dr. Moschonis said in the press release. “Considering these breakthrough discoveries, we are excited to contribute our strengths into further extending the current knowledge and produce additional high-quality research evidence that will shed more light on the effectiveness of probiotics in the reduction of bone loss."