Peer-reviewed article
Efficacy and safety of fermented oyster extract for height of children with short stature: A randomized placebo-controlled trial
Seung-Il Jeong, Beom Chan Park, Hee-Yeon Kim, Jun‐Yong Choi, Jin-Hong Cheon et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001A randomized controlled trial tested whether fermented oyster extract could increase height in 100 South Korean children aged 6-11 years with short stature (below 25th percentile). Children received either fermented oyster extract or placebo daily for 24 weeks. The oyster extract group showed significantly greater height gain and growth velocity than the placebo group, possibly through effects on growth-related proteins.
Key points
- Height gain was significantly higher in the fermented oyster group compared to placebo after 24 weeks (p < 0.001)
- Height velocity was significantly higher in the intervention group at weeks 6 and 24 (p = 0.001 and p = 0.004)
- Height standard deviation score improved significantly more in the oyster extract group (p < 0.005)
- Serum IGFBP-3 levels declined less in the fermented oyster group than the placebo group
- The mechanism of effect may involve preservation of growth-related protein levels
Limitations
The study does not report whether height gains persisted after supplementation ended, nor does it specify whether the clinical significance of observed height increases is meaningful for child development. Long-term safety data beyond 24 weeks is not provided.
Abstract
Some experimental studies have established the effect of oysters on the promotion of body growth. Yet, there is a lack of human clinical studies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a fermented oyster (FO) extract on the increase in the height of children with stature in the 25th percentile by age. In total, 100 children (6–11 years old) were randomly divided into two (FO or control) groups. For 24 weeks, the subjects in the FO group took the FO extract once daily before sleeping, whereas the control group took placebo extracts, simultaneously. We evaluated the height gain, height velocity (HV), height standard deviation score (SDS), urine deoxypyridinoline (DPD), growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), and IGF binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3). The height gain and height SDS were significantly higher in the FO group than in the placebo group after 24 weeks (height gain: p < 0.001, height SDS: p < 0.005). The HV was also significantly higher in the FO group than in the placebo group after the 6th and 24th week (p = 0.001, p = 0.004). After 24 weeks, we observed a decrease in GH, IGF, and IGFBP-3 in both groups. However, serum IGFBP-3 level in the FO group reduced less than placebo group. FO supplementation may help to increase the height of children, and the effect might be mediated via effects on the IGFBP-3 levels.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Daily fermented oyster extract supplementation taken once daily before sleeping
- Population
- 100 children aged 6-11 years with short stature (below 25th percentile)
Key finding
Height gain significantly higher in fermented oyster group than placebo (p < 0.001)