Osteocalcin: A novel biomarker of adolescent psychopathology

Osteocalcin is a bone-derived hormone implicated in the acute stress response and recently linked to adult depression. Yet it is unclear whether osteocalcin is a biomarker of other forms of psychopathology and whether osteocalcin-psychopathology associations emerge during developmentally sensitive periods earlier in life. Thus, in the current pilot study we examined salivary osteocalcin and psychiatric symptoms and disorders among 48 early adolescents during a period of stress. A logistic regression indicated lower osteocalcin was associated with meeting criteria for a psychiatric disorder, OR = 0.43, 95 % CI [.002,.924], and showed moderate-to-large cross-sectional associations with a range of elevated psychopathology symptoms, Bs ≥ |-3.44|, ps ≤.034. Multilevel linear growth models indicated that low osteocalcin prospectively predicted an even greater range of psychopathology symptoms at one-year follow-up as well as increases in some symptoms over time, Bs ≥ |-1.83|, ps ≤.021. Findings introduce osteocalcin as a biomarker of diverse forms of psychopathology in youth. Osteocalcin is a potential transdiagnostic mechanism through which dysregulated responses to stress could cause or exacerbate various types of psychopathology, highlighting a promising target for clinical assessment and early intervention.