Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 2021/12, 121(12):A68-A69. doi: 10.1515/jom-2021-2000, type of study: ,obs,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Full text    (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jom-2021-2000/html)

Keywords:

geriatrics [141]
nervous system [249]
observational study [246]
OMT [3925]
osteocalcin [1]
osteopathic manipulative treatment [3946]

Abstract:

Context: Osteocalcin (OCN) is secreted by osteoblasts to facilitate bone development and remodeling in response to mechanical stress. It also stimulates anabolic processes such as improvement in age-related nervous system decline in humans.1 Treatment with OCN was protective against neurodegeneration in a Parkinson’s disease (PD) rat model.2 Although OCN may be a useful biomarker of bone stimulation by osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) in PD, serum OCN has not been studied in PD. Objective: To determine if OCN levels in individuals with PD are associated with disease-severity. Methods: This observational cross sectional study of correlations of OCN to validated assessment of severity of motor function in PD (MDS-UPDRS-part 3), sensory organization testing (SOT), and activities of daily living in PD (PDQ39) is part of an IRB-approved (BHS 975) randomized controlled trial of OMM for motor function and balance in PD.3 Of the 33 individuals participating in the trial, 10 subjects with a Hoehn & Yahr of 2 were selected. Their pre-intervention OCN serum levels were analyzed by Life Extension-Labcorp. Serum OCN was statistically tested for Spearman’s correlation (2-tailed p-value) with demographics and functional measures. Results: The mean age was 67.4 (±5.5) years. Participants had PD for 1-17 years and were 80% male; 20% female. Mean serum OCN was 16 (±7.8) ng/ml. Serum OCN correlations were age rs =-0.1515 (p= .676), BMI rs=-0.1849 (p=.634), MDS-UPDRS-part3 rs=0.7699 (p=.015), SOT rs=0.1982 (p=.670), PDQ39 rs=0.2833 (p=.460) and the number of years having PD rs=0.2594 (p=.500). Conclusion: Serum OCN levels were within the established lab reference range for healthy individuals. Serum OCN significantly, positively correlated with severity of motor function impairment. This subset of participants came from a study in which there was significant improvement on MDS-UPDRS-part 3 in the OMM group. The lack of correlation to activities of daily living in PD and balance suggests that these would not be confounding variables in serum OCN if used as a biomarker for mechanical stress into bone during OMM. Further analysis is required to determine if release of OCN was part of the therapeutic effect.