Vitamin K - necessary for normal bone formation and prevention of osteoporosis

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[UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2023]

Preface

Research done by Professor Cees Vermeer at the Department of Biochemistry, Maastricht University in Holland shows that vitamin K is essential in healthy bone metabolism and is highly protective against loss of bone.

Professor Vermeer is now retired [Sept 2023] - you can see his impressive 'ResearchGate' Profile here - Professor Cees-Vermeer at Research Gate

What does vitamin K do?

Vitamin K is highly protective against osteoporosis. See Vitamin K and Osteoporosis

It is also necessary for blood to clot.

So Vermeer was worried that supplements with vitamin K might increase the clotting tendency. So he set up an experiment to see how vitamin K worked (see below). He showed that when blood vessels were intact, vitamin K inhibited clotting, but when blood vessels were broken, vitamin K promoted clotting. This is a highly desirable state of affairs!

See Gamma-carboxyglutamate-containing proteins and the vitamin K-dependent carboxylase.

An abstract of the above paper

Vitamin K serves as a cofactor in the posttranslational conversion of protein-bound glutamate into g-carboxyglutamate, also known as Gla. Since the vitamin K-dependent step is a carboxylation reaction, vitamin K deficiency leads to the synthesis of undercarboxylated proteins. Gla residues are calcium binding groups and are essential for the biological activity of the proteins in which they are found; undercarboxylated Gla-proteins have a low activity in all cases their function is known. Vitamin K-dependent proteins are known to participate in three physiological processes:

  1. in blood coagulation (coagulation factors II, VII, IX and X and proteins C and S);
  2. in bone metabolism (protein S, osteocalcin and matrix Gla-protein (MGP));
  3. in vascular biology (protein S, MGP, and growth arrest specific protein 6 (Gas 6)).

All three bone Gla-proteins are synthesized by the osteoblasts (the bone forming cells) and their importance became clear about 25 years ago, when it was realized that the use of vitamin K-antagonists (coumarin derivatives) in pregnant women was associated with serious bone defects in the foetus. Subsequent experiments in animals (rats, lambs) have shown that notably in rapidly growing (young) bone tissue coumarins interfere with calcium deposition resulting in excessive and irregular precipitation of calcium salts, bone deformations, growth reduction and severe osteopenia. Similar effects were observed in MGP knock-out mice. In 1984 it was shown by the group of Shearer that osteoporotic femur neck fractures were associated with very low circulation vitamin K levels. Similar data were observed by the group of Delmas. In 1989 data from our lab showed significant undercarboxylation of osteocalcin in postmenopausal women, which was normalized after vitamin K supplementation. These data, which strongly suggest that a mild vitamin K deficiency is common in elderly women, were confirmed by the group of Delmas, who also showed that circulating undercarboxylated osteocalcin is inversely correlated with bone mass, and that it is a strong risk factor for hip fracture. Several clinical trials showed that the daily intake of 1-10mg/day of vitamin K results in an increase of serum markers for bone formation, and in an increase of urine markers for bone resorption. Also urinary calcium loss was decreased, notably in those with high calcium excretion. Japanese studies showed that intake of vitamin K supplements results in substantial reduction of postmenopausal bone loss, but these data need verification in other populations.

In the arterial vessel wall the functions of Gla-proteins are probably associated with: local inhibition of thrombosis (protein S), inhibition of mineralisation (MGP), and stimulation of normal cell growth and prevention of apoptosis in growth arrested cells (Gas6). MGP-deficient mice were born to term but all died before the 8th week due to massive arterial calcification and rupture of the aorta. Gas6 was shown to prevent starvation-induced death of fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells, and may act as a growth-potentiating factor which acts synergistically with other known growth factors in these cells. Data presently available suggest that in humans Gas6 may play a key role in preventing the degeneration of an atherosclerotic vessel wall.

Conclusions: Vitamin K dependent proteins play a regulatory role in at least three important physiological processes: blood coagulation, bone metabolism, and vascular biology. Recent developments suggest that for normal haemostasis the nutritional vitamin K intake is adequate, but that both other processes may require intakes above the accepted RDA levels.

Another Vermeer Paper

For those readers who are interested in more detail, please see Vitamin K: the effect on health beyond coagulation – an overview

Types of Vitamin K

The most common types of Vitamin K that one might hear about are:

  • Vitamin K1 or phylloquinone, the natural version of K1 and phytonadione, the synthetic type of K1.
  • Vitamin K2 or menaquinone. Vitamin K2, in turn, consists of a number of related chemical subtypes. These subtypes, called menaquinones (MKs), are named by their differing lengths of carbon side chains, made of isoprenoid groups of atoms. They range from MK-4 to MK-13.The two most studied ones are menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and menaquinone-7 (MK-7).
  • Vitamin K3 or menaphthone or menadione. - Vitamin K3 is a synthetic form of vitamin K, and was used to treat vitamin K deficiency, but because it interferes with the function of glutathione, it is no longer used in this way in human nutrition

In animals, the MK-4 form of vitamin K2 is produced by conversion of vitamin K1 in the testes, pancreas, and arterial walls. Bacteria in the gut flora can also convert K1 into K2. All forms of K2 other than MK-4 can be produced by bacteria - this is done during anaerobic respiration.

Where do we get Vitamin K from?

Vitamin K1 is mostly found in plant foods like leafy green vegetables. It makes up about 75–90% of all vitamin K consumed by humans. Vitamin K1 is synthesised in the large bowel by friendly bacteria fermenting fibre.

Vitamin K2 is found in fermented foods and animal products, and is also produced by gut bacteria, via conversion of K1, and also from converting K1 in the testes, pancreas, and arterial walls as noted above.

So,

If your diet is not fully PK (and it should be!) then take vitamin K1 1 mg and K2 1 mg daily

Vitamin D and its co-factors

Often people ask me about taking co-factors to improve absorption of Vitamin D. Vitamin D co-factors are vitamins K1 and K2 and others such as boron, vitamin A, omega 3 and magnesium. You will get enough K1 and K2 from the PK diet, and boron, vitamin A, omega 3 and magnesium are all covered by the basic supplements package - boron and magnesium are in sunshine salts [or multi mineral mix], omega 3 is in the recommended essential fatty acids and vitamin A is in the recommended Biocare multi vitamin / mineral - see Nutritional Supplements - what everybody should be taking all the time even if nothing is wrong

Heavy periods and bleeding

For one specific use, I recommend vitamin K to treat any bleeding problem such as heavy periods.

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