[Osteocalcin and endocrine pathology].

Abstract

The field of metabolic bone diseases has recently received useful information from the examination of the role of new collagenous and non-collagenous bone proteins, such as osteocalcin (also called bone Gla-protein) and osteonectin. It appears that at present, serum osteocalcin is the one bone protein that has the most promise for assisting in the diagnosis and management of high turnover metabolic bone disease states. Since endocrine diseases are frequently associated with altered bone turnover due to a disequilibrium between formation and bone resorption, we examine the role of osteocalcin, a specific marker of osteoblastic activity, in these clinical conditions.