Metabolomik: Open Access

Is Osteocalcin Implicated in the Regulation of Energy Metabolism in Active Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Abstract

Alicja Nowak, Anna Straburzynska-Lupa, Lucja Pilaczynska-Szczesniak and Wojciech Romanowski

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of osteocalcin with insulin resistance, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and inflammatory markers in women with RA.

The study population comprised of 35 postmenopausal women with RA. The significant negative correlations were noted between the osteocalcin and resistin levels (P <0.05), glucose and resistin levels (P ≤ 0.01), glucose and interleukin-6 levels (P ≤ 0.01), interleukin-6 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) levels (P < 0.05). The positive correlations were found between insulin level and disease duration (P < 0.05), index of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) level and disease duration (P < 0.05), IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels (P ≤ 0.01), the IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P ≤ 0.01), and the IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio and C-reactive protein levels (P < 0.05).

The present study suggests that inflammatory factors may modify in distinct ways the relationship between osteocalcin and carbohydrate metabolism in patients with RA. However, limitations of this study are: lack of control group, small sample size and that we did not measure uncarboxylated OC.