Effect of chronic high protein feeding on bone composition in the adult rat

A study of the effect of feeding a high protein diet on bone metabolism was conducted using adult rats deep-labeled with 45Ca. A control diet (15% soy protein plus 0.2% methionine) and a high protein diet (control plus 20% lactalbumin) were fed for 10 months. Rats fed the high protein diet exhibited increases in urinary Ca, 45Ca, sulfate and volume. Total 45Ca excretion, urine calcium specific activity and urine phosphorus initially were depressed indicating an increase in the intestinal absorption of calcium, then were not significantly different from control values. After 10 months, analysis of the femur, tibia and mandible revealed no differences in wet weight, dry fat-free or ash weight, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, or residual 45Ca content. Specific gravity and ash density also were unaffected by protein intake, as were femur length and midshaft cortical thickness. No changes in bone composition were found which would indicate that high protein diets promote bone loss in this species. The adult rat appears to be capable of compensating for the increased urinary loss of Ca associated with an increment in acid load (whether derived from an increase in diet acidity or in metabolic acid production) by reducing the fractional loss of endogenous Ca in the feces.