Objectives: Sclerostin is an important regulator of bone mass involving the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway. Relatively few studies have investigated the relationships of circulating sclerostin levels with adiposity-related and muscle-related biochemical factors in individuals with increased energy metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of circulating sclerostin with adipokines, myokines, osteokines and body composition values in lean adolescent females with increased physical activity.
Methods: A total of 73 adolescent females who were physically active and aged 14-18 years old participated in the study. Sclerostin, leptin, resistin, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, irisin, osteocalcin, C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTx), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and insulin were obtained from fasting blood samples. Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and analyzed for body fat mass, lean body mass, bone mineral content and muscle mass.
Results: Serum sclerostin (117.9 ± 60.3 pg/mL) was correlated with age, age at menarche, body fat, muscle mass, training activity, leptin, TNF-α, irisin, osteocalcin, CTx and IGF-1. Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that fat mass (β = 0.434; p = 0.001), leptin (β = -0.308; p = 0.015), irisin (β = 0.227; p = 0.024) and CTx (β = 0.290; p = 0.031) were the most important predictors of serum sclerostin concentration.
Conclusions: Bone-derived sclerostin is associated with specific adipokine, myokine and osteokine values in lean adolescent females with increased physical activity. These results suggest that the interactions between bone, adipose and muscle tissues could also be associated with circulating sclerostin concentrations.
Keywords: adipokines; adolescent females; myokines; osteokines; sclerostin; training activity.
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