The effects of aerobic exercise training on serum osteocalcin, adipocytokines and insulin resistance on obese young males

Summary Objective Osteocalcin has been proposed to be a novel link between bone and energy metabolism. Previous studies showed its relations to exercise, body fat and glucose metabolism, but their interrelationship remains inconslusive. We evaluated the changes in osteocalcin level following 8‐week exercise programme and assessed how they are related to concomitant changes in body fat composition, insulin resistance and various adipocytokines in a single centre, randomized and prospective design. Study design and Methods A total of 39 young obese, otherwise healthy males were randomly assigned to control (n = 10) and exercise (n = 29) groups. Subjects in Exercise group were on 8‐week supervised exercise training programme of four sessions per week. Body fat compositions were analysed using whole body bone mineral density, various metabolic parameters, osteocalcin and adipocytokines were assessed from fasting blood samples before and after 8‐week exercise programme. Results Body fat reduction following exercise significantly increased serum total (1·51 ± 0·36 vs 1·69 ± 0·39 mmol/l, P = 0·01, baseline vs postexercise) and undercarboxylated osteocalcin level (0·44 ± 0·14 vs 0·64 ± 0·26 mmol/l, P