ArticlePloS one2017
Insulin and bone health in young adults: The mediator role of lean mass.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between lean mass and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a meta-analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Pooled it
- The Mediating Role of Endocrine Factors in the Positive Relationship Between Fat Mass and Bone Mineral Content in Children Aged 9-11 Years: The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children Study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Trial
- A Review of the Relationship Between Insulin and Bone Health.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Research progress of diabetic osteoporosis: a comprehensive review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- A narrative review of diabetic bone disease: Characteristics, pathogenesis, and treatment.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
- Insulin resistance and bone health in adolescents.Archives of osteoporosis · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe positive relationship between lean mass (LM) and bone health is well known, but a positive association between insulin and LM has also been described. Insulin has some anabolic properties on bone through the stimulation of osteoblast differentiation, yet the role of LM as a confounder or mediator in this relationship remains uncertain.
objectiveTo examine whether the association between insulin levels and bone health is mediated by LM.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at the Castilla La Mancha University (Spain) involving 466 young adults (113 young men; 19.5±2.3 years). LM and total-body bone mineral content (BMC) were measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, and insulin was measured in fasting serum samples.
resultsYoung adults with high total LM had higher values of total-body BMC than their peers after controlling for age and sex, this relationship persisted after adjusting for insulin levels (p<0.001). In mediation analyses, insulin levels were positively associated with total-body BMC (b = 0.05; p<0.001) and total LM acted as an intermediate variable, attenuating the association between insulin levels and total-body BMC (b = -31.98; p>0.05) as indicated by Sobel test values for indirect effect (z = 4.43; p<0.001).
conclusionsLM plays an important role in the relationship between insulin levels and bone health, in such a way that while increases in LM have a positive influence on bone health, they are also negatively associated with insulin levels.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.