A new clinical study published in BMC Nephrology has found that haemodialysis patients benefit from supplementation with vitamin K2.
According to the researchers, the vitamin K2 intake in haemodialysis patients was estimated as being 40% lower than in the healthy participant group. The study, based in Lebanon, investigated if there was a correlation between vitamin K status and vascular calcification score in haemodialysis patients, and if K2 supplementation would improve extra-hepatic vitamin K status in Eastern Mediterranean populations.
The 50 patients enrolled in the study received daily 360μg of MenaQ7 (vitamin K2 as MK-7) from NattoPharma for four weeks. Extrahepatic vitamin K status represented as the level of dpucMGP (dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein, or ‘inactive’ MGP, a K-dependent protein) and vascular calcification scores (AC-24) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the vitamin K2 treatment.
The main conclusion was that haemodialysis patients have profound vitamin K deficiency as assessed by high dp-ucMGP plasma levels. High dpucMGP level was significantly correlated with high aortic calcification scores and thus can be used as a non-invasive marker for vascular calcifications.
According to the researchers: “The daily administration of 360μg of vitamin K2 (MK-7) decreased dpucMGP by 86% after four weeks and was well tolerated. Further studies should be conducted to assess the change in vascular calcifications after an extended duration of therapy.”
“NattoPharma was excited to participate in this clinical intervention trial,” says Hogne Vik, chief medical officer of NattoPharma. “We have long recognized the important implications correcting a vitamin K2 deficiency can have on human health, particularly in patient populations who suffer intense vascular calcification as a result of their condition. This study adds to the body of evidence confirming the cardiovascular support MenaQ7 vitamin K2 as MK-7 provides.”
