title: Relationship between serum osteocalcin levels and carotid intima-media thickness in Chinese postmenopausal women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Serum osteocalcin has been shown to be closely related to metabolic risk factors. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate the association between serum osteocalcin levels and subclinical atherosclerosis in Chinese postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,319 postmenopausal women (age range, 41-78 y) without any history of cardiovascular disease or carotid plaque were analyzed. Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay was used to measure total serum osteocalcin levels. B-mode ultrasound measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) was used to evaluate subclinical atherosclerosis. Participants within the upper quartile of C-IMT measurements (≥0.65 mm) were classified as having increased C-IMT in the present study. C-IMT association with metabolic parameters was assessed by Spearman correlation analysis, whereas that with serum osteocalcin was assessed by multiple stepwise regression adjusted for potential confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall median (interquartile range) level of osteocalcin was 20.51 (16.71-24.98) ng/mL, and that of C-IMT was 0.60 (0.55-0.65) mm. Four hundred sixteen (31.5%) participants had increased C-IMT. Participants with increased C-IMT had significantly lower serum osteocalcin levels than those who had C-IMT lower than 0.65 mm (19.77 [16.17-24.52] vs 20.84 [16.92-25.39] ng/mL, P = 0.01). Serum osteocalcin level was significantly and negatively correlated with C-IMT (r = -0.107, P < 0.01) and was identified as an independent factor that significantly influenced C-IMT (standardized β = -0.117, P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum osteocalcin level is negatively associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in Chinese postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: From the 1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai, China; and 2Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yuqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Diancheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jiaan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yuqian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Weiping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D015675:Osteocalcin / Q000097:blood*; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D015675:Osteocalcin