Association of circulating sclerostin levels with fat mass and metabolic disease--related markers in Japanese postmenopausal women.
BACKGROUND
Wnt/β-catenin signaling is related to the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, diabetes, and metabolic diseases. Sclerostin is an inhibitor of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. However, there are few data regarding the relationship between sclerostin levels and metabolic disease.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to identify the relationship between serum sclerostin levels, body composition markers, and the markers of metabolic disease.


METHODS
The present study is a cross-sectional study. We measured serum sclerostin levels in 352 Japanese postmenopausal women and analyzed the relationship of these levels with bone mineral density, abdominal fat mass, and biochemical markers. The mean (sd) age of the subjects was 65.5 (9.3) yr.


RESULTS
Serum sclerostin levels were positively correlated with percentages of abdominal and gynoid fat. We also analyzed the association between serum sclerostin levels and biochemical markers related to metabolic diseases. Multivariate analysis revealed that the serum sclerostin levels were significantly correlated with the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and homocysteine.


CONCLUSIONS
The circulating sclerostin levels were associated with fat mass. The circulating sclerostin levels were also correlated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and homocysteine.
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Tomohiko
T
Urano
Masataka
M
Shiraki
Yasuyoshi
Y
Ouchi
Satoshi
S
Inoue
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism*; D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D015415:Biomarkers; D001823:Body Composition; D015519:Bone Density; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood*; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000502:physiology
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D015415:Biomarkers; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D005819:Genetic Markers; C422903:SOST protein, human; D051176:beta Catenin; D006710:Homocysteine