[Correlation between osteocalcin and bone histomorphometry in children with chronic renal failure]

The study was performed in 17 children with chronic renal failure, 7 were on hemodialysis, 6 on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, 4 were treated conservatively. In all, serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, PTH intact and osteocalcin were measured and bone biopsy was performed. We analyzed correlations between biochemical markers of bone metabolism and histomorphometric parameters. The lowest mean serum osteocalcin levels were found in children with adynamic bone disease, the highest with osteitis fibrosa. The serum osteocalcin level was significantly correlated with the dynamic parameter of bone formation rate (BFR), which suggests that this biochemical marker can be of use in discriminating between renal osteopathy with low and high bone turnover. Lack of correlation between serum osteocalcin level and mineralizing surface confirms it significance as a good marker of osteoblastic activity in bone formation but not in bone mineralization.