All life revolves around the elementary need to survive, grow and replicate. In order to go through our daily routines, we must all consume a palette of nutrients that our bodies can digest and utilize. What we eat is converted into energy or stored for use later on. If we balance our diets, then what is ingested will also include chemical compounds that are vital to our metabolisms and must be sourced externally. These are often referred to as “supplements” and can include an array of vitamins, amino acids, etc.

However, living things also require chemical compounds or biochemicals that cannot be obtained from the outside world. Instead, the body must make these on its own. When we are at the peak of our physical being, we are able to synthesize sufficient quantities of these biochemicals for all of our processes to work beautifully. Examples of some of these self-produced biochemicals are: hormones, regulators and enzymes.

Unfortunately, when we age or if we unduly stress one of our functional systems, the level of biochemicals we depend upon to keep us in good repair becomes challenged. This biochemical deficiency can lead to premature aging or ill health. Consequently as we grow older, or if we engage in practices that put undue stress on the systems of our bodies, there will be a need to increase the unacceptably low levels of these active chemicals. This augmentation is known as “replenishment”.

The skeletal system of our bodies serves several different functions. These include:

• Providing a means of structural support so we can stand and move.
• Producing red blood cells.
• Protecting the vital organs.
• Acting as a chemical repository for calcium and phosphorous.

A healthy skeletal system is essential. When something goes wrong with the skeletal system it impacts our entire state of well being. Unfortunately, about 10 million people in North America have the most common type of bone disease, known as osteoporosis. As the population ages and the boomers move into their late forties and fifties, bone health becomes an ever increasing battle. As we get older, the scarcity of certain self-synthesized biochemicals results in an imbalance in the withdrawal and deposits to the bone storehouse. The result is that everyday we are removing more minerals from our bones than we replace. Over time, this deficit results in a loss of bone material that is significant enough to cause fragility and brittleness.    

Additionally, life style choices such as alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity put stress on the skeletal system and can lead to a deficiency of the naturally created biochemicals needed to adequately maintain the health and density of our bones.

Recently Narain Naidu, PhD (Medicine), in collaboration with colleges from the University of Southern California, the Western University of Health Sciences and N-terminus Research Laboratory, has published a paper in the journal Osteoporosis International. It examines the ability of natural proteins from milk to replenish the lack of self-synthesized biochemicals in post-menopausal women.

Dr. Naidu is a medical microbiologist with over 25 years of research experience in the field of bioactive compounds and their effects on our well being. He has served as a professor at universities in Europe, Asia and the U.S. Dr. Naidu is a fellow or member of numerous professional and scientific societies. He consults with public health agencies and runs his own biotechnology company.

Perhaps Dr. Naidu should be known as “Dr. Lactoferrin” since he has led the research on these compounds since the mid-1980s and has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles on the subject. The following is a short review of his latest publication.

Osteoporosis International Article

The article entitled, “Milk ribonuclease-enriched lactoferrin induces positive effects on bone turnover markers in postmenopausal women” is published in the latest issue of Osteoporosis International.

[Copyright laws preclude the opportunity to provide a link to the entire article. However, by accessing the “Pubmed” site and searching for “Naidu lactoferrin” a copy of the publication abstract can be downloaded.]

Objective:

Look for a way to treat osteoporosis without inducing the harmful effects of existing pharmaceutical approaches.

Premise:

Since certain natural milk proteins, along with ribonuclease and lactoferrin can promote the formation of new bone and blood vessels test their ability to improve bone health.

Experimental Design:

Conduct a placebo-controlled and randomized study to examine the effects of ribonuclease enriched lactoferrin (R-ELF) on patients in the primary target group.

Patient Selection:

The study was limited to post-menopausal women who were in good health. Those included in the study all passed the inclusion/ exclusion criteria set by the study protocol. As an example, participants currently undergoing treatment for bone disease were not included since their results could not be clearly interpreted as due to the R-ELF.

Approach:

The enrollees were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group received both the R-ELF compound as well as a calcium supplement, while the placebo group received only the calcium supplement. Blood and urine samples were obtained from each of the individuals at the beginning of the study. Similarly, blood and urine samples were also taken on day 15, day 30, day 60, day 90 and finally on the last day of the study which was day 180.

Since bone density measurements are cumbersome, time consuming and operator dependent, a more direct, accurate and reproducible approach was used in the study. Namely, the blood and urine samples were tested for chemicals indicative of bone growth and resorption (mineral withdrawal). The idea was to look for bone growth activity, since it would signify a re-depositing of bone material. as well as a better managed rate of withdrawal (resorption).

Bone formation can be tracked by analyzing the blood’s serum for two chemical “markers”. These are bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (sBAP) as well as osteocalcin (sOC). Bone loss, or mineral withdrawal, was monitored by looking at N-telopeptides (sNTx) in the serum and free deoxypyridinoline in the urine (uDPD).

The idea here was to see if the R-ELF and calcium supplement would not only cause the mineral withdrawal from the bone to be moved to a more favorable rate, but also to investigate whether or not minerals would be re-deposited.

Results:

R-ELF supplementation showed an increase in bone formation in both markers when compared to the placebo results. Similarly, the bone resorption markers demonstrated that the rate at which minerals were being withdrawn from the bone decreased with the use of R-ELF.

Bottom-line:

Ribonuclease-enriched lactoferrin (R-ELF) shows a significant reduction in bone loss and an increase in bone formation activity when taken with a calcium supplement.

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