Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39727029›Full record

ArticleClinical endocrinology2025

Osteocalcin in Infancy and Early Childhood and Its Correlation With Later Growth and Body Composition: A Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study.

Sara Berggren, Jovanna Dahlgren, Ola Andersson, Stefan Bergman, Josefine Roswall

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Article in Clinical endocrinology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Sara BerggrenDepartment of Pediatrics, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8310-0220
Jovanna DahlgrenDepartment of Pediatrics, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9637-3439
Ola AnderssonDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3972-0457
Stefan BergmanPrimary Health Care Unit, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6294-538X
Josefine RoswallDepartment of Pediatrics, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7269-648X

Funding

This research project received funding from the Swedish Medical Research Council (2013-03013) and Halland Regional Development Council (HALLAND-979407, 981062, 992394, 994884).
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOsteocalcin is a metabolic active hormone, which correlates positively with bone formation and inversely with body mass index and waist circumference in adults.

objectivesTo investigate whether osteocalcin in infancy and early childhood were related to childhood growth or body composition.

methodsA Swedish longitudinal birth cohort with blood samples from 551 children from birth until 5 years of age. Regular anthropometric measurements were carried out up to 8 years of age and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans were also performed at 8 years. The results included p-values and Spearman's rho (ρ).

resultsOsteocalcin at 4 months of age correlated inversely and consecutively with weight from 4 to 24 months and to waist circumference from 6 to 24 months in boys. The correlations for girls were limited to weight at 4 months and waist circumference at 6 and 18 months (ρ < 0.3, p = 0.001 to 0.048). The boys' osteocalcin levels at 5 years correlated positively with their height and weight at 5 and 6.5 years (ρ < 0.3, p < 0.01). Meanwhile, the girls' osteocalcin at 3 years showed positive correlations to all weight and height measurements until 8 years of age (ρ < 0.3, p = 0.003 to 0.023). DXA data showed that the boys' osteocalcin at 5 years correlated with the fat-free mass index (FFMI) (ρ 0.212, p = 0.026) but not the fat mass index (FMI) at 8 years. The opposite was seen for the girls' osteocalcin at 3 years, which correlated with FMI (ρ 0.222, p = 0.020) but not FFMI.

conclusionEarly levels of osteocalcin showed inverse correlations with later weight, height and body composition in infancy and positive correlations during childhood. The weak but consistent correlations suggest that osteocalcin carries information about future growth. Girls with high osteocalcin at 3 and 5 years had a larger fat mass at 8 years, while boys, in contrast, had a larger lean mass. These sex differences need to be further explored.

Indexed as

Body CompositionChild DevelopmentOsteocalcinAbsorptiometry, PhotonBirth CohortBody HeightBody Mass IndexBody WeightChildChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornLongitudinal StudiesOsteocalcinbody compositionbody mass indexchildhoodlongitudinalosteocalcinsex differences

Identifiers

PMID39727029
PMCPMC11874053

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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.