Ambroszkiewicz Jadwiga, Laskowska-Klita Teresa, Klemarczyk Witold
Zaklad Biochemii i Diagnostyki Laboratoryjnej, Instytut Matki i Dziecka, Kasprzaka 17a, 01-211 Warszawa, Poland.
Med Wieku Rozwoj. 2003 Oct-Dec;7(4 Pt 2):587-91.
Scientific literature points to the positive association between vegetarian diet and reduced risk for cardiovascular diseases, some types of cancer and diabetes. On the other hand elimination of animal products from the diet decreases the intake of some essential nutrients which may influence bone metabolism. This is a very important problem especially in childhood and adolescence, when growth and bone turnover are the most intensive. Bone metabolism is regulated by variety factors, which are involved in the bone formation and bone resorption processes. Osteocalcin is one of the markers of bone formation (produced by osteoblast) which plays an important role in the regulation of bone growth. Recent data support the concept that other modulators such as leptin (hormone from adipose tissue) may influence bone formation process.
Our study is designed to investigate serum concentration of osteocalcin and leptin in prepubertal children with two different nutritional habits: vegetarian and omnivorous diet.
We examined 49 healthy children in age 2-10 years, who were divided into vegetarian and omnivores groups.
The serum osteocalcin levels in prepubertal children on vegetarian diet was significantly lower than in nonvegetarians (86.7+/-27.4 microg/L versus 100.1+/-16.4 microg/L; p<0.05). Lower level of osteocalcin is accompanied by lower leptin concentration. In children on vegetarian diet mean leptin level was 3.0+/-1.0 microg/L, whereas in omnivorous children it was 5.5+/-2.0 microg/L, (p<0.0001).
Our observation indicates that deficiencies in some of the nutrient components together with reduced serum concentration of leptin may retard relevant bone growth and development in childhood.
科学文献指出素食饮食与降低心血管疾病、某些类型癌症和糖尿病的风险之间存在正相关。另一方面，从饮食中排除动物产品会减少一些可能影响骨代谢的必需营养素的摄入。这是一个非常重要的问题，尤其是在儿童期和青春期，此时生长和骨转换最为活跃。骨代谢受多种因素调节，这些因素参与骨形成和骨吸收过程。骨钙素是骨形成的标志物之一（由成骨细胞产生），在骨生长调节中起重要作用。最近的数据支持这样的概念，即其他调节因子如瘦素（来自脂肪组织的激素）可能影响骨形成过程。
我们的研究旨在调查具有两种不同营养习惯（素食和杂食）的青春期前儿童血清骨钙素和瘦素的浓度。
我们检查了49名2至10岁的健康儿童，将他们分为素食组和杂食组。
素食青春期前儿童的血清骨钙素水平显著低于非素食儿童（86.7±27.4微克/升对100.1±16.4微克/升；p<0.05）。骨钙素水平较低伴随着瘦素浓度较低。素食儿童的平均瘦素水平为3.0±1.0微克/升，而杂食儿童为5.5±2.0微克/升，（p<0.0001）。
我们的观察表明，某些营养成分的缺乏以及血清瘦素浓度降低可能会阻碍儿童期相关骨骼的生长和发育。
