BAMBinO: Bile Acids as MetaBolic regulators in Osteoporosis

Obesity is already considered the second pandemic of this generation, affecting one billion people worldwide. In many cases, it is associated with osteoporosis, another common condition causing bone loss and fractures. The link between obesity and osteoporosis is complex and the risk of bone fracture in obese individuals is often underestimated. It is highly important to understand how obesity causes osteoporosis to improve the diagnosis and treatment of these patients. We found that bile acids, which are molecules associated with the digestion of fat, could also participate in maintaining bone health. Using models that mimic obesity or affect the uptake of bile acids by the tissues, we will investigate how bile acids can help forming bone and how this function changes when there is a high caloric intake. We will take advantage of modern technologies to detect changes in metabolism (the process by which the cell converts food into energy) and in the bacterial composition of the gut, and how these changes are linked to the production of different types of bile acids. Later, we want to test whether specific dietary supplements could reverse the damaging effect of the fat by modulating cell metabolism in the bone. Moreover, to confirm that the changes found in these laboratory models could be used in clinics, we will measure the levels of bile acids and metabolic targets in patients with or without osteoporosis. We will also confirm how these changes affect bone formation by investigating them in osteoblasts, the cells that produce bone, using tissue removed after hip surgery. Our results will help to discover novel pharmacological and nutritional therapies as well as others based on specific bacteria in the gut to prevent bone fractures in patients with obesity.