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Prunes Preventing Bone Loss in Perimenopause

Penn State University · with University of Georgia, California Dried Plum Board · NCT07120997

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 44–55 · Women only
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
124
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
December 11, 2025
Record last updated
February 4, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

Dietary interventions of prune consumption during the transmenopausal period are innovative methods to prevent bone loss. Modern medicine does not intervene to prevent or attenuate this highly vulnerable period of bone loss which, if successfully attenuated, can potentially prevent/delay osteoporosis in women. The transmenopausal period represents an opportunistic window for the study because bone loss is at its greatest at this time, with females losing as much as 6-7% of bone. If this project is successful at attenuating bone loss, it can immediately be disseminated to the public to promote prune consumption to slow down and attenuate perimenopausal bone loss. As such, this project could improve the long-term bone health of females and avoid or delay osteoporosis and improve quality of life. The long-term goal of this study is to test the novel hypothesis that prune consumption for 18 months during the 3-year transmenopausal period prevents the dramatic rate of bone loss in perimenopausal females during a window of heightened physiological vulnerability. At Penn State University, the study will compare the effects of 18 months of daily dietary consumption of 50 g of prunes (5-6) versus a no-prune control group on bone outcomes (bone mineral density, bone geometry), mechanistic factors (bone and inflammatory markers, inflammatory response of ex vivo cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells, monocytes), and gut microbiome.

Being studied: Prunes; Calcium supplement; Vitamin D Supplement

Conditions: Perimenopausal Bone Loss

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age 44 to 55 years
  • Not severely obese (BMI \<35 kg/m\^2)
  • Healthy (determined by a screening questionnaire, physical and medical history by a certified nurse practitioner, complete metabolic panel, and complete blood count)
  • Willing to include prunes in their daily diet
  • Not taking any natural dietary supplement containing phenolics, i.e.,\< 1 cup/day of blueberries or apples for at least 2 months prior to study entry
  • Non-smoking
  • Ambulatory
  • No menses for ≥60 days but not more than 18 months post final menstrual period
  • Only participants who have a determinable natural (not surgical) final menstrual period date are eligible

Exclusion Criteria

  • Subjects who regularly consume prunes, dried apples, prune juice, or heavy consumers of blueberries (1 cup or more/day)
  • History of vertebral fracture or fragility fracture of the wrist, humerus, hip or pelvis after age 45 yr)
  • Untreated hyper- or hypothyroidism
  • Current hyper- or hypoparathyroidism
  • Significantly impaired renal function
  • Current hypo- or hypercalcemia
  • History of spinal stenosis
  • History of heart attack, stroke, thromboembolism, kidney disease, malabsorption syndrome, or seizure disorders
  • Positive for HIV, Hep-C or Hep-B surface antigen and malignancy
  • Use of the following agents affecting bone metabolism: intravenous bisphosphonates at any time; fluoride (for osteoporosis) within the past 24 months; denosumab at any time; bisphosphonates, parathyroid hormone or strontium within the past 12 months; calcitonin; selective estrogen receptor modulators within the past 12 months; systemic oral or transdermal estrogen within the past 3 months; systemic glucocorticosteroids (≥ 5 mg prednisone equivalent per day for more than 10 days); or tibolone within the past 3 months
  • Hormonal contraception within the past three months
  • Subjects who will not consume study provided dietary items or who will not stop taking their own natural product supplements

Recruiting US locations

  • Women's Health and Exercise Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University

    University Park, PA 16802

    Site contact: Mary Jane De Souza, PhD · 814-863-0045 · mjd34@psu.edu

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Mary Jane De Souza, PhD · 814-863-0045 · mjd34@psu.edu
  • Nancy I. Williams, ScD · 814-865-1346 · niw1@psu.edu
All women’s health studies in Pennsylvania →
Prunes Preventing Bone Loss in Perimenopause (NCT07120997) | Bored Studies