[Serum osteocalcin in insulin-dependent diabetic patients]

Serum osteocalcin (BGP) is the currently most reliable marker of osteoblastic activity and of the bone formation index. To investigate its state in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) we measured the BGP level in 82 individuals divided in two groups. The control group (CG) consisted of 26 healthy volunteers (16 males and 10 females: mean age 25.6 +/- 2.8 years). The diabetic group (DG) consisted of 56 patients with IDDM (36 males and 20 females; mean age 23.2 +/- 6 years). The DG was, in its turn, subdivided in four subgroups (A, B, C, D) depending on the time from the diagnosis (TE) (less than 2, 2-5, 5-10, and greater than 10 years). The DG had a significantly lower BGP than CG (3.01 +/- 1.5 vs 3.9 +/- 1.7 ng/nl; p = 0.024). BGP levels were also lower in the subgroups C (2.4 +/- 1.0 ng/ml; p = 0.006) and D (1.7 +/- 0.9 ng/ml; p = 0.000) than in CG. When they were compared between them, the subgroups A (3.6 +/- 1.1 ng/ml) and B (4.5 +/- 1.4 ng/ml) had BGP levels significantly higher than subgroups C (2.4 +/- 1.0 ng/ml; p = 0.009 and p = 0.000) and D (1.7 +/- 0.9 ng/ml; p = 0.000 and p = 0.000). There were no differences between subgroups A and B, on the one hand, and C and D, on the other. There was a highly significant lineal correlation between TE and the BGP levels (r = 0.5196; p = 0.000). The patients with IDDM have reduced BGP levels; this reduction becomes apparent after 5 years of clinical evolution and shows a correlation with the time since the diagnosis.