Research
Hormonal
Exogenous administration of undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) improves whole-body and skeletal muscle glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in animal models, though human evidence remains discordant.
Current research suggests that bone-derived factors like osteocalcin may help regulate blood sugar, especially in muscle. However, because human studies are inconsistent, there is no specific protocol to manipulate osteocalcin levels for diabetes treatment yet. Focus on proven methods: exercise (which naturally increases ucOC) and maintaining healthy bone density.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Most data generated from in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro models, indicate that exogenous ucOC administration improves whole-body and skeletal muscle glucose metabolism.
Why this rating
Strong mechanistic data in rodents, but inconsistent and observational data in humans.
Source
The role of bone in energy metabolism: A focus on osteocalcin
Cassandra Smith et al. · Bone · 2024
DOI 10.1016/j.bone.2024.117238
narrative_reviewCited 21×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Sclerostin levels are elevated in individuals with Type 2 Diabetes and insulin resistance, and blocking sclerostin signaling improves insulin sensitivity in animal models.Moderate
- Exercise increases circulating undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) levels, which is associated with increased whole-body insulin sensitivity.Moderate
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