Conjugated linoleic acid prevents growth attenuation induced by corticosteroid administration and increases bone mineral content in young rats.

Corticosteroids are a common therapy in many disease states, despite frequent and potentially serious side effects. Nutritional supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown to increase fat-free mass, whereas supplementation with n-3 and n-6 fatty acids has been shown to increase bone mineral density (BMD). To determine whether CLA can attenuate the side effects of 8 weeks of corticosteroid administration, we randomized twenty-four 5-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats into 1 of 4 groups: control; control + methylprednisolone (7 mg.