Abstract
Background:
Animal models have shown that the skeletal hormone osteocalcin stimulates testicular testosterone synthesis. To assess whether osteocalcin might be a useful marker to detect pubertal development disorders, we examined osteocalcin plasma concentrations in children and adolescents with and without disorders of pubertal development.
Methods:
Osteocalcin concentrations were investigated in a total of 244 patients with endocrine disorders (122 males, mean age: 11.87+3.77 years), including patients with precocious puberty and constitutional delay of puberty.
Results:
Osteocalcin concentrations were highest among adolescents with precocious puberty and advanced pubertal development (120.60±45.22 ng/mL), while the concentrations were lowest among patients with constitutional delay of puberty (102.20±37.13 ng/mL). Overall, osteocalcin concentrations were strongly correlated with markers of bone metabolism.
Conclusions:
Although plasma osteocalcin concentrations are associated with pubertal development in boys, it does not appear to be a useful diagnostic marker for altered pubertal development.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Sandy Moore, from Marseille, France, for editorial assistance with the manuscript.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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The online version of this article (DOI: 10.1515/jpem-2016-0243) offers supplementary material, available to authorized users.
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