Calcium Supplement Combined with Dietary Supplement Kidtal Can Promote Longitudinal Growth of Long Bone in Calcium-Deficient Adolescent Rats.

Abstract

Objective: Growth retardation in adolescents caused by nutritional deficiency requires effective intervention. A novel dietary supplement containing bamboo shoot extract, amino acids, and calcium citrate (Kidtal + Ca, KDTCa) was evaluated for its growth-promoting effects. Methods: After acclimatization, sixty-three 3-week-old male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into a normal control group and model groups. Growth retardation was induced in the modeling groups through calcium-deficient feeding, followed by administration of KDTCa, bamboo shoot extract and amino acids (Kidtal), or calcium citrate (CC). After 6 weeks of intragastric administration, the mechanical properties, microstructure, and growth plate development of bone were evaluated using three-point bending, micro-CT, and H&E staining, respectively. Bone calcium/phosphorus distribution and fecal calcium apparent absorption rate were measured by ICP-MS. Results: All inter-group differences were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and checked using the Tuckey test. KDTCa treatment dose-dependently enhanced bone development in calcium-deficient rats. Compared to the model group, H-KDTCa significantly restored naso-anal length ( p < 0.05) and body weight ( p < 0.01). KDTCa supplementation significantly restored calcium and phosphorus levels in blood and bone. Three-point bending experiments showed that the stiffness and bending energy were increased by 142.58% and 384.7%. In bone microarchitecture, both bone mineral density (BMD) and microstructural parameters were significantly improved. These findings were consistent with the increased long bone length ( p < 0.05) and decreased serum BALP/TRACP levels ( p < 0.001). Dose-dependent IGF-1 elevation ( p < 0.01) potentially mediated growth plate elongation by 35.34%. Notably, KDTCa increased calcium apparent absorption by 6.1% versus calcium-only supplementation at equal intake. Conclusions: KDTCa improves bone microstructure and strength, restores bone metabolism, and enhances growth plate height via promoting IGF-1 secretion to facilitate bone development. Further studies are needed to determine whether the components and calcium in Kidtal have a synergistic effect.