Abstract:

Osteocalcin is an osteoblast-derived protein mainly acting on bone formation. There is growing evidence that osteocalcin has an important role in glucose metabolism. It was not fully elucidated in gestational diabetes mellitus. The aim of our study was to investigate osteocalcin levels in gestational diabetes mellitus and its subgroups. We performed a case–control cross sectional study and evaluated all the demographic and anthropometric parameters of 80 pregnant women whose age and body mass indices similar, half of them having normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and the other half having gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We compared osteocalcin, calcium metabolism parameters, glucose, lipid levels, insulin resistance parameters, and investigated correlations of all parameters in NGT and GDM. We also analyzed GDM subgroups, which were classified according to age, parity, body mass index (BMI), and vitamin D levels. Osteocalcin levels were increased in patients with GDM and in older, multiparous, with low vitamin D or high body mass index GDM subgroups but these increases were not statistically significant (P>0.05). There was a positive correlation between osteocalcin and C peptide in GDM group and also in GDM subgroups with age≥30, multiparous, vitamin D≥20 ng/ml or BMI≥30 kg/m2 (r=0.424, P=0.006; r=0.460, P=0.011; r=0.408, P=0.017; r=0.520, P=0.013; r=0.603, P=0.002 respectively). We also found a negative correlation between Osteocalcin and HDLcholesterol in GDM and in multiparous, vitamin D≥20 ng/ml or BMI<30 kg/m2 GDM subgroups (r=-0.334, P=0.035; r=-0.352, P=0.041; r=-0.430, P=0.041; r=-0.442, P=0.031 respectively). Our results suggest that osteocalcin may play a role in gestational diabetes mellitus especially if pregnant women are older, multiparous, and obese.

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