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Dietary tryptophan and bone health: a cross-sectional, population-based study

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Abstract

Summary

Tryptophan metabolites influence bone. We aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary tryptophan and bone health in a population-based sample of men and women. Following adjustment for age, dietary tryptophan was not associated with bone quantity or quality, suggesting a non-critical role of superfluous tryptophan on the skeleton.

Purpose

Tryptophan metabolites, such as serotonin, influence bone. We sought to determine the relationship between dietary intake of tryptophan and bone health in a population-based study of men and women.

Methods

Participants (1033 women and 900 men, aged 20–98 years) enrolled in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS) were investigated. Dietary information was collected using a validated questionnaire. Tryptophan levels were calculated (mg/day) in accordance with Food Standards Australia and New Zealand and dichotomised according to the median. Bone mineral density (BMD; g/cm2) was measured at the spine (postero-anterior projection) and total hip using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Stiffness index (SI), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and speed of sound (SOS) were derived from quantitative heel ultrasound. Linear regression models were used to test associations between dietary tryptophan and bone health, after adjustment for potential confounders.

Results

Tryptophan intakes ranged from 112 to 3796 mg/day (median 1035) in men and 115–2869 mg/day (median 885) in women. In men older than 45 years and women, a high tryptophan intake was associated with greater hip BMD compared to participants with a low tryptophan intake (p = 0.002 and p = 0.04, respectively); however, these relationships were attenuated by age (all p > 0.05). Participants with high tryptophan intake had greater BUA and SI compared to participants with low tryptophan intake (men; BUA, p = 0.02 and SI, p = 0.02, and women; BUA, p = 0.03 and SI, p = 0.08), yet also attenuated by age (all p > 0.05).

Conclusion

No association was found between tryptophan intake and bone health in this population, which suggests a non-critical role of superfluous tryptophan consumption on the skeleton.

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Data Availability

Data available on reasonable request.

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Funding

The Geelong Osteoporosis Study was supported by the NHMRC, Australia (Projects 251638, 299831, 628582 and 1104438). JC is supported by a Deakin University Postgraduate Scholarship. MB is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellowship (APP1059660 and APP1156072). LJW is supported by a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (1064272). The funding providers played no role in the design or conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; or in preparation, review or approval of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, IMPACT, Institute for Innovation in Physical and Mental Health and Clinical Translation, Deakin University, University Hospital Geelong, 285 Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia

    Jasmine R. Cleminson, Amanda L. Stuart, Julie A. Pasco, Jason M. Hodge, Michael Berk, Rasika M. Samarasinghe & Lana J. Williams

  2. Department of Medicine-Western Health, Western Centre for Health Research & Education (WCHRE) Building, The University of Melbourne, Level 3/176 Furlong Road, St Albans, Victoria, 3021, Australia

    Julie A. Pasco

  3. Barwon Health, University Hospital Geelong, 285 Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia

    Julie A. Pasco, Jason M. Hodge, Michael Berk & Lana J. Williams

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 553 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria, 3004, Australia

    Julie A. Pasco

  5. Geelong Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Geelong, 285 Ryrie Street, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia

    Jason M. Hodge

  6. Department of Psychiatry, The Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia

    Michael Berk

  7. Orygen, 35 Poplar Rd, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia

    Michael Berk

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  1. Jasmine R. Cleminson
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  7. Lana J. Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jasmine R. Cleminson.

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Conflict of interest

Authors JRC, ALS, JMH and RMS have no conflicts of interest to declare. JAP has recently received grant/research support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Amgen, BUPA Foundation, Amgen/GlaxoSmithKline/Osteoporosis Australia/Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society, Western Alliance, Barwon Health, Deakin University and the Geelong Community Foundation.

MB has received grant/research support from the NIH, Cooperative Research Centre, Simons Autism Foundation, Cancer Council of Victoria, Stanley Medical Research Foundation, MBF, NHMRC, Beyond Blue, Rotary Health, Geelong Medical Research Foundation, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Glaxo SmithKline, Meat and Livestock Board, Organon, Novartis, Mayne Pharma, Servier and Woolworths; has been a speaker for Astra Zeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Glaxo SmithKline, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi Synthelabo, Servier, Solvay and Wyeth; and served as a consultant to Allergan, Astra Zeneca, Bioadvantex, Bionomics, Collaborative Medicinal Development, Eli Lilly, Glaxo SmithKline, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck Merck, Pfizer and Servier.

LJW has received grant/research support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Eli Lilly, Pfizer, the University of Melbourne and Deakin University.

Ethics approval

The study was approved through the Barwon Health Human Research Ethics Committee (ID 92/01 and ID 00/56), and all participants provided informed written consent.

Consent to participate

All procedures performed in the work described, involving human participants, were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) [30], its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Privacy rights were observed for all individual participants included in the study, as well as written informed consent. Further, the manuscript is in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals [31] and includes a representative human population (sex, age and ethnicity) as per the recommendations.

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Appendix

Appendix

Fig. 1
figure 1

Dietary tryptophan intake of participants. Values presented as median (interquartile range), boxplot width proportional to age stratified sample size

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Table 1 Characteristics of men and women and according to high and low dietary tryptophan intake
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Table 2 Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression analyses between tryptophan intake and bone health for men and women
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Cleminson, J.R., Stuart, A.L., Pasco, J.A. et al. Dietary tryptophan and bone health: a cross-sectional, population-based study. Arch Osteoporos 15, 167 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-020-00838-w

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