Links Between the Microbiome and Bone

J Bone Miner Res. 2016 Sep;31(9):1638-46. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.2887. Epub 2016 Jul 26.

Despite these challenges, an understanding of the mechanisms by which the gut microbiome affects bone has the potential to provide insights into the dissociation between fracture risk and bone mineral density in patients including those with obesity, diabetes, or inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, alteration of the gut microbiome has the potential to serve as a biomarker of bone metabolic activity as well as a target for therapies to improve bone structure and quality using pharmaceutical agents or pre- or probiotics.