Salivary osteocalcin: Reactivity to acute social stress and relationships with concomitant stress biomarkers in healthy African Americans

Emerging evidence suggests that osteocalcin–a protein secreted by bones that aids in rebuilding the skeleton–may play a hitherto overlooked role in initiating fight-or-flight stress response. However, osteocalcin response to acute social stress in humans has not yet been well observed. This includes among racial minorities, who may be at a disproportionately high risk for stress-related illness due in part to dysregulation of fight-or-flight stress responses. The current study examined reactivity of salivary osteocalcin (sOCN) in response to acute social stress in a sample of healthy African American men and women. The current study also considered associations with concomitantly measured stress biomarkers.