The effect of a fortified milk drink on vitamin D status and bone turnover in post-menopausal women from South East Asia

Calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone growth; milk is an appropriate vehicle to be fortified with calcium, vitamin D and other minerals. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effect of supplementing with a high calcium milk drink with added vitamin D, magnesium and zinc (HCM) versus a placebo drink on serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and vitamin D status as well as markers of bone formation/resorption in postmenopausal women living in South East Asia (Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila, the Philippines) over a period of 4 months. Calcium intake at baseline was 237 mg (median; 176-316, interquartile range) for Indonesia and 353 mg (median; 222-480, interquartile range) for the Filipino women per day. Fortified milk supplementation reduced the percentage of women that were insufficient in 25 (OH) vitamin D3 ( < 50 nmol/L) from 70% to 22% in the Indonesian women and 20% to 0% in the Filipino women. Fortified milk supplementation significantly reduced parathyroid hormone levels (PTH) by week 2 (22% and 11%), C-telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) by week 2 (34% and 27%), osteocalcin (OC) by week 8 (18% and 25%) and procollagen type I N-propeptide (PINP) by week 8 (15% and 21%), in women from Indonesia and the Philippines, respectively. Thus, the HCM intervention was able to significantly improve vitamin D status, lower PTH levels and reduce bone turnover in two groups of South East Asian women.