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Osteocalcin and measures of adiposity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

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Abstract

Summary

Osteocalcin, the osteoblast-derived protein, has been shown to be modulated in patients with problematic glucose metabolism. Our systematic review and meta-analysis found that in humans, higher blood osteocalcin level is associated with lower body indices of fat.

Purpose/introduction

Osteocalcin (OC) was found to be inversely correlated with measures of glucose and energy metabolism, with some groups suggesting the undercarboxylated form (ucOC) to be metabolically active, although the link is not clear, especially in humans. Given obesity is a major risk factor for metabolic disorders, we aimed to assess the correlation between OC and two measures of body weight: body mass index (BMI) and percentage body fat (%BF).

Methods

MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched to identify observational studies in adult populations that reported the crude correlation coefficients (r) between OC and BMI and %BF. Pool r were obtained using random-effects models.

Results

Fifty-one publications were included in this analysis. Both total OC (TOC) (pooled r = − 0.151, 95% CI – 0.17, − 0.130; I2 = 52%) and ucOC (pooled r = − 0.060, 95% CI – 0.103, − 0.016; I2 = 54%) were inversely correlated with BMI. The pooled r between TOC and BMI in Caucasian-and-other-regions (r = − 0.187) were stronger than those in Asian populations (r = − 0.126; intra-group p = 0.002; R2 = 0.21). The mean/median BMI of the reported cohort was the major contributor to between-study heterogeneity in correlation between TOC/ucOC and BMI (R2 = 0.28 and 0.77, respectively). Both TOC and ucOC were also inversely correlated with %BF (TOC: pooled r = − 0.185, 95% CI – 0.257 to − 0.112; ucOC: pooled r = − 0.181, 95% CI – 0.258 to − 0.101).

Conclusion

Higher OC and ucOC were correlated with lower BMI and %BF. The inverse correlations between TOC/ucOC and BMI appear to be affected by ethnicity and obesity status.

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Study design: XL, TBS, KB and JL. Literature search: XL and JL. Data collection: XL and YL. Data analysis: XL and KB. Data interpretation: XL, TBS, KB, IL, BBY, and JL. Manuscript drafting: XL, JM, KB, and TBS. Critical revision: TBS, JL, MC, IL, and BBY. All authors had final approval of the submitted manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tara C. Brennan-Speranza.

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Xiaoying Liu, Yihui Liu, Julia Mathers, Melissa Cameron, Itamar Levinger, Bu Yeap, Joshua Lewis, Kaye Brock, and Tara Brennan-Speranza declare that they have no conflict of interest. The salary of JL is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Career Development Fellowship (ID 1107474).

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Liu, X., Liu, Y., Mathers, J. et al. Osteocalcin and measures of adiposity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Arch Osteoporos 15, 145 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-020-00812-6

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