Bacillus subtilis Modulated the Expression of Osteogenic Markers in a Human Osteoblast Cell Line.

Several in vivo trials have previously demonstrated the beneficial effects of the administration of various probiotic forms on bone health. In this study, we explored the potency of two probiotics, and , alone or in combination with vitamin D (VD), to modulate the transcription of genes involved in the ossification process in a human osteoblast cell line. Genes that mark the "osteoblast proliferation phase", such as , , and , "extracellular matrix (ECM) maturation", such as and , as well as "ECM mineralization", such as , , and , were all highly expressed in osteoblasts treated with extract. The observed increase in the transcription of the mRNA was further in agreement with its protein levels as observed by Western blot and immunofluorescence. Therefore, this higher transcription and translation of alkaline phosphatase in osteoblasts treated with the extract, indicated its substantial osteogenic impact on human osteoblasts. Although both the probiotic extracts showed no osteogenic synergy with VD, treatment with alone could increase the ECM mineralization, outperforming the effects of and even VD. Furthermore, these results supported the validity of employing probiotic extracts rather than live cells to investigate the effects of probiotics in the in vitro systems.