Osteocalcin-insulin relationship in obese children: a role for the skeleton in energy metabolism

Abstract

In trained obese children, correlations indicate that when BMD is increased, osteocalcin is increased and insulin lowered. This suggests that increased BMD is associated with increased energy metabolism and a decreased level of insulin. We thus report statistically significant relationships between the skeleton (osteocalcin) and energy metabolism (insulin), suggesting a regulatory hormonal loop including osteocalcin and insulin.

Association between serum osteocalcin, adiposity and metabolic risk in obese children and adolescents

“…Contradicting the previous observation [22], Rochefort et al [23] did not find any differences in serum osteocalcin levels in obese children compared to nonobese controls. A possible explanation for the inconsistent data linking childhood adiposity and circulating osteocalcin can be attributed to the studied group, since the relationships between markers of calcium metabolism and body composition showed racial and ethnic differences [25].…”

“…Serum osteocalcin levels have been found to be lower in obese than in non-obese children [22] and correlated inversely with both BMI and body fat [23,25]. However, the correlation between OC and body composition was most significant for absolute fat mass compared to other indices of adiposity (% of body fat, BMI, or BMI-SDS) [25].…”

“…Other paediatric studies have also shown a significant association between circulating osteocalcin concentrations and blood markers of the dysmetabolic phenotype in obese children [23,25], although Boucher-Berry et al [25] found such an association only PRACE ORYGINALNE in whites. It is possible that other variables related to adiposity, such as pubertal status, which may affect OC, were not assessed in the latter study.…”

“…Data concerning serum osteocalcin in children is limited and results are often controversial [21][22][23][24]. Serum osteocalcin levels have been found to be lower in obese than in non-obese children [22] and correlated inversely with both BMI and body fat [23,25].…”

Bone-adiposity cross-talk: implications for pediatric obesity

“…Osteocalcin is a known marker of bone formation secreted by osteoblasts through the Ocn gene, which comprises the major noncollagen protein found in the [41]. Osteocalcin is expressed in two different forms that have two different functions: the carboxylated (cOC) and uncarboxylated (unOC) forms.…”