Bone Abstracts

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of diet supplemented with hydrosoluble soy extract – HSE in bone mass of male and healthy Wistar rats. Sixteen (16) 30 days old animals were kept in controlled conditions with light/dark cicle and fed with commercial food and filtered water. Randomized into two groups: control group received 500 ml of water and 300 g of food, daily; supplemented group S, in addition of water and food, they also received 500 ml of soy milk. After 11 weeks, the animals were euthanasied, its tibias were removed and subjected to bone densitometry (DXA) and mechanical test (three-point bending) for assessment of bone mineral density – BMD (g/cm²), maximum force (N) and stiffness (kN/m). The results underwent statistical analysis and demonstrated that the consumption of soy milk caused a significant decrease in bone properties: BMD was 0.178±0.008 g/cm² for the control group (C) and 0.146±0.014 g/cm² for the supplemented group (S); maximum force was 88.27±5.07 N for C and 73.58±5.25 N for S; Stiffness was 173.45±10.33 kN/m for C and 139.64±11.55 kN/m for S. We concluded that hydrosoluble soy extract caused a significant decrease in mechanical bone properties of the rats, probably because it interferes in the absorption of minerals and amino acids. We suggest that soy milk should not be used as a substitute of cow milk once it has lower calcium content that can worsen bone density.