Plasma Myostatin Increases with Age in Male Youth and Negatively Correlates with Vitamin D in Severe Pediatric Obesity
Open accessAbstract
Obesity already causes non-communicable diseases during childhood, but the mechanisms of disease development are insufficiently understood. Myokines such as myostatin and irisin are muscle-derived factors possibly involved in obesity-associated diseases. This explorative study aims to investigate whether myostatin and irisin are associated with metabolic parameters, including the vitamin D status in pediatric patients with severe obesity. Clinical, anthropometric and laboratory data from 108 patients with severe obesity (>97th percentile) aged between 9 and 19 years were assessed. Myostatin, its antagonist follistatin, and irisin, were measured from plasma by ELISA. Myostatin concentrations, particularly in males, positively correlated with age and pubertal stage, as well as metabolic parameters such as insulin resistance. Irisin concentrations correlated positively with HDL and negatively with LDL cholesterol values. For follistatin, the associations with age and pubertal stage were inverse. Strikingly, a negative correlation of myostatin with serum vitamin D levels was observed that remained significant after adjusting for age and pubertal stage. In conclusion, there is an independent association of low vitamin D and elevated myostatin levels. Further research may focus on investigating means to prevent increased myostatin levels in interventional studies, which might open several venues to putative options to treat and prevent obesity-associated diseases.
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Myostatin secretion is inversely proportional to BMI and has been shown to reduce glucose uptake, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysregulation by inhibiting muscle mass development and promoting adipose tissue accumulation.
“Myostatin secretion is inversely proportional to BMI and has been shown to reduce glucose uptake, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysregulation by inhibiting muscle mass development and promoting adipose tissue accumulation.”
From Exercise-Induced Muscle–Fat Crosstalk: Molecular Mediators and Their Pharmacological Modulation for the Maintenance of Metabolic Flexibility in Aging (2025) · cites this paper as [63]
The Results (no page supplied) found no association between myostatin and BMI in the severe-obesity cohort and reported a positive, not negative, correlation with insulin resistance. The Introduction says myostatin inhibits muscle growth, but that does not support the sentence’s contrary BMI and insulin-resistance claims. The paper does not establish reduced glucose uptake through the proposed mechanism. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese findings position myostatin as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in obesity-related insulin resistance, particularly in young men.
“These findings position myostatin as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in obesity-related insulin resistance, particularly in young men [63].”
From Exercise-Induced Muscle–Fat Crosstalk: Molecular Mediators and Their Pharmacological Modulation for the Maintenance of Metabolic Flexibility in Aging (2025) · cites this paper as [63]
The Discussion (p. unavailable) describes myostatin as a potential treatment target for metabolic dysfunction, and the Results report an initial correlation with insulin resistance. But that correlation did not remain significant after adjustment for age and pubertal stage; the male-specific finding concerned rising myostatin with age, not insulin resistance. The paper therefore does not establish myostatin as a biomarker for obesity-related insulin resistance particularly in young men. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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References 50 · Cited by 9
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [31]Mickey E. Bokor B.R. Tanner Stages. [Updated 2021 Dec 15] StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL) StatPearls Publishing LLC Orlando, FL, USA 2022 Available online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470280 (accessed on 22 January 2022)
- Authors
- Baumgartner, M., Lischka, J., Schanzer, A., de Gier, C., Walleczek, N.-K., Greber-Platzer, S., & Zeyda, M.
- Affiliations
- Clinical Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergology and Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolesce Medicine, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Medical University of Vienna (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Zeyda, Maximilian
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-05-20
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 2133
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9144022
- OpenAlex
- W4280488412
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 6
- FWCI
- 1.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Vitamin D Research Studies
- Keywords
- myostatin, vitamin D, childhood obesity, severe childhood obesity, irisin, follistatin, myokines, insulin resistance, pubertal stage, age, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, obesity-related comorbidities
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Fibronectins, Humans, Male, Obesity, Morbid, Vitamin D, Follistatin, Myostatin, Young Adult, Pediatric Obesity
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