{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T18:59:17Z","timestamp":1785437957409,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776211200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan","award":["MOST 111-2314-B-195-018-MY3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MOST 111-2314-B-195-018-MY3"]}]},{"award":["MOST 111-2314-B-195-018-MY3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MOST 111-2314-B-195-018-MY3"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02kv4zf79","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004861","name":"MacKay Memorial Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["MMH-E-111-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-111-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004861","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004861","name":"MacKay Memorial Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["MMH-E-112-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-112-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004861","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004861","name":"MacKay Memorial Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["MMH-E-113-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-113-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004861","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004861","name":"MacKay Memorial Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["MMH-E-114-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-114-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004861","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["MMH-E-111-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-111-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/015b6az38","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["MMH-E-112-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-112-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/015b6az38","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["MMH-E-113-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-113-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/015b6az38","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["MMH-E-114-14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MMH-E-114-14"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/015b6az38","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Maternal vitamin D deficiency (VDD) compromises fetal skeletal development. The impact of postnatal vitamin D supplementation on osteocalcin (OC) carboxylation, converting undercarboxylated (ucOC) to carboxylated osteocalcin (cOC), in offspring remains unclear, given conflicting reports on the correlation between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and specific OC forms. This study investigated OC profile recovery in a mouse model of maternal VDD. Methods: Female C57BL\/6J mice were fed a VDD diet from four weeks pre-conception through lactation. Weaned offspring were maintained on the VDD diet and randomized to three groups: control (saline), standard-dose (1500 IU\/kg), or high-dose (4500 IU\/kg) vitamin D supplementation. Serum 25(OH)D, cOC, and ucOC were quantified via ELISA at 1, 2, and 4 weeks post-intervention. Results: Controls remained vitamin D-deficient (&lt;13 ng\/mL). Supplementation dose-dependently increased serum 25(OH)D (p &lt; 0.05). Crucially, while absolute ucOC levels remained stable across all groups, supplementation significantly upregulated cOC and total osteocalcin at all time points (p &lt; 0.05). Consequently, the ucOC\/cOC ratio significantly decreased in supplemented groups. Partial correlation analysis revealed a strong positive correlation between 25(OH)D and cOC (rpartial = 0.718) and a negative correlation with the ucOC\/cOC ratio (rpartial = \u22120.433), but no correlation with ucOC (rpartial = \u22120.102). Conclusions: In offspring affected by maternal VDD, vitamin D supplementation improves the osteocalcin carboxylation profile primarily by driving carboxylated osteocalcin synthesis rather than reducing the undercarboxylated pool. Serum cOC and the ucOC\/cOC ratio serve as superior functional biomarkers to ucOC for monitoring therapeutic efficacy in this early-life developmental model.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18081243","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T14:02:33Z","timestamp":1776261753000},"page":"1243","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Beyond 25(OH)D: Carboxylated Osteocalcin and the Undercarboxylated\/Carboxylated Osteocalcin Ratio as Superior Biomarkers for Vitamin D Recovery in Offspring Affected by Maternal Deficiency"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9740-800X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wai-Tao","family":"Chan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, MacKay Children\u2019s Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, MacKay Medical University, New Taipei City 252005, Taiwan"},{"name":"MacKay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management, New Taipei City 252005, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5135-7294","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hung-Chang","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, MacKay Children\u2019s Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, MacKay Medical University, New Taipei City 252005, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chun-Yan","family":"Yeung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, MacKay Children\u2019s Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, MacKay Medical University, New Taipei City 252005, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3680-5703","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jen-Shiu","family":"Chiang Chiau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mei-Lein","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Szu-Wen","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, MacKay Children\u2019s Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9242-4502","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shu-Chao","family":"Weng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, MacKay Children\u2019s Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, MacKay Medical University, New Taipei City 252005, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2763-3476","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chuen-Bin","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, MacKay Children\u2019s Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, MacKay Medical University, New Taipei City 252005, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"793","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clnu.2014.12.006","article-title":"Congenital rickets due to vitamin D deficiency in the mothers","volume":"34","author":"Paterson","year":"2015","journal-title":"Clin. 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