To evaluate bone turnover changes occurring during
protein-energy malnutrition, serum
osteocalcin, a marker of bone formation, has been studied in healthy control, stunted, and severely malnourished (
kwashiorkor and
marasmus) Senegalese children. Serum
osteocalcin levels were dramatically reduced in stunted,
kwashiorkor, and marasmic children compared with control children. In addition serum
osteocalcin levels of control children living in Senegal were lower (-46%) than those of African children living in France. Interestingly, serum
osteocalcin level was not related to its major known regulators (1 alpha,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol,
25-hydroxycholecalciferol, and PTH) nor to
stunting, but was related to serum
transthyretin and
thyroid hormones concentrations. These data suggest that serum
osteocalcin level is related to
protein-energy status and that bone formation was affected in apparently healthy and in malnourished Senegalese children. Serum
osteocalcin could be a potent tool in the study of the alterations of bone formation in
malnutrition.