Probiotics in bone fracture treatment? A narrative literature review

Abstract

The recent recognition of the importance of the intestinal microbiome in host physiology has driven investigations of gut microbiome-directed therapeutics, with probiotics attracting increasing attention in the treatment of a diversity of conditions. The application of probiotics has expanded beyond the treatment of intestinal tract disorders. Today, their capacity to treat a vast array of conditions arising also along the gut-bone axis is being studied. Therefore, in this study a scoping literature review was conducted on clinical trials evaluating the effect of probiotics in the treatment of bone fracture. In total, six articles were found for review, four randomized placebo-controlled trials on humans and two studies on animal-models. Probiotics were found to have positive effects in fracture treatment. Probiotics were shown to improve not only bone regeneration, but also decrease systemic inflammation and pain during conservative fracture treatment. However, this is a novel field and due to the limited number of studies only sparse conclusions can be made. Additional clinical trials on the possible role of probiotics in fracture treatment are necessary to fully evaluate their therapeutic potential.