https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8483258/
Vitamin K, a fat-soluble nutrient was discovered in 1935 for its role in blood coagulation. Symptoms of severe vitamin K deficiency include bleeding and hemorrhaging.
Vitamin K1 is found primarily in dark leafy greens and serves primarily to clot blood to prevent excess bleeding. Vitamin K2, is found in meat, dairy and eggs. Its functions include helping bone density, cardiovascular and dental health, and also has a role in helping to regulate blood clotting.
Studies have established that Vitamin K2 is a vital nutrient newly recognized for supporting bone and cardiovascular health, as shown in both observational studies and clinical trials, in both healthy and ill study subjects.
More recent research studies have uncovered vitamin K2’s involvement in brain cells development and survival. Vitamin K2 is involved in the synthesis of sphingolipids, which are present in high concentrations in brain cell membranes. Sphingolipids are important for numerous cellular functions and the very survival of brain cells. Clinical studies have linked alterations in sphingolipid containing membranes to age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s .10-12
Research and Cardiovascular Health:
Vitamin K2 (menaquinone) is a crucial cardiovascular nutrient. The optimal intake of vitamin K2 and body tissue levels may help to avoid the calcium containing plaque buildup of coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease by ameliorating the risk and rate of calcification .1-3 Vitamin K2 as MK-7 in its impact on arterial calcification. No other compound either a vitamin or a drug has been shown to do this. Thus, Vitamin K2 as MK-7 is being recommended as a therapy for patients who are shown to have significant arterial calcifications .6,7 This nutrient also lends a vital cardiovascular support to patients with chronic kidney disease who are on dialysis and also to renal transplant recipients.8,9
Author K Rheaumr-Blue published the book “Vitamin K2 and the calcium paradox: how a little-known vitamin could save your life“
He says, “The secret to avoiding calcium-related osteoporosis and atherosclerosis- while millions of people take calcium and Vitamin D supplements thinking they’re helping their bones, the truth is, without the addition of Vitamin K2, such a health regimen could prove dangerous. Without Vitamin K2, the body cannot direct calcium to the bones where it’s needed; instead, the calcium resides in soft tissue (like the arteries)—leading to a combination of osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, or the dreaded” calcium paradox.”
Arterial calcification is considered an unfortunate result of aging, but we can impact this process by providing our body with vitamin K2. Two clinical studies were published, which evaluated the effect of vitamin K2 vs. placebo on arterial stiffness in healthy people. Results of one , double-blind, randomized clinical trial, 4 showed that when taken daily in nutritional doses (180 μg as MenaQ7®) for three years by a healthy population, vitamin K2 (MK-7) improved cardiovascular health. This study included 244 healthy post-menopausal Dutch women; 55 to 65 years old. Vitamin K2 supplementation inhibited age-related stiffening of arteries. And MK-7 not only suppressed arterial stiffening but also resulted in a statistically significant improvement of vascular elasticity, as measured by ultrasound techniques and the PWV (pulse wave velocity) readings seen in healthy adults. 4
Another clinical study also showed cardiovascular benefit after K2 supplementation in both genders in a 1-year follow-up after beginning Vitamin K2 supplementation. This clinical trial study had 243 subjects participants between 40 and 70 years of age, who were characterized as at risk for cardiovascular disease due to vitamin K deficiency. The study subjects taking Vitamin K2 maintained arterial flexibility, and the stiffness did not increase over the year, whereas the placebo group showed a progression of further loss of arterial flexibility5
Vit K2 Can Impact Health Conditions Beyond Bone and Cardiovascular
Newer research shows us that Vitamin K2 impacts physiologic processes that impact other areas of the body and a variety of conditions for which it may be reasonable to consider Vitamin K2 supplementation as a therapeutic or preventive agent. Specifically, our brain health, musculoskeletal system, nervous system and our eyes may all be affected by our Vitamin K2 status.
Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Forms of Dementia
Some studies in people older than 65 years of age show a direct correlation between low vitamin K dietary intake or serum concentration, and deteriorated cognitive and behavioral abilities .15-20
Vitamin K status and cognitive function in healthy older adults
N Presse, S Belleville, P Gaudreau, Neurobiology of aging, 2013 • Elsevier
The abstract of this study summarizes the research on the role that vitamin K could have in cognition, especially in aging. Their study involved 320 men and women aged 70 to 85 years who were free of cognitive impairment. They present their result as evidence to the possible role of vitamin K in cognition during aging, specifically in the consolidation of memory.
There haven’t been enough clinical studies on the impact of vitamin K deficiency on brain function to make conclusions, therefore it is still a matter of debate today whether vitamin K deficiency is associated with cognitive decline. Vitamin K antagonists (such as warfarin), used worldwide as oral anticoagulants, may have a negative influence on cognitive functioning due to their interference with Vit K processes. The two most common types of dementia in Western countries are Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia. The mechanism underlying AD is the deposition of β-amyloid peptide (Aβ), and the neurofibrillary tangles that result in neuronal cell death and the loss of synaptic connections which contributes to cognitive decline in a progressive manner.13,14
Research findings exist that show that vitamin K2 can protect neural cells against Aβ toxicity.21
[PDF] mdpi.com
Molecular mechanism of vitamin K2 protection against amyloid-β-induced cytotoxicity
SH Huang, ST Fang, YC Chen
Biomolecules, 2021 • mdpi.com
The authors of this study say, “The pathological role of vitamin K2 in Alzheimer’s disease involves a definite link between impaired cognitive functions and decreased serum vitamin K levels. Vitamin K2 supplementation may have a protective effect on AD. “
They evaluated the protective role and mechanism of vitamin K2 protecting against Aβ-induced cytotoxicity and conclude, ” Our study demonstrates that vitamin K2 can protect neural cells against Aβ toxicity.”
The scientific journal Nutrients published a review that examined the evidence connecting vitamin K2 to Alzheimer’s Disease pathogenesis, concluding that Vitamin K2 may play a protective role against Alzheimer’s Disease and may have the potential to slow it progression. 23
[PDF] mdpi.com
Vitamin K2 holds promise for Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment
A Popescu, M German
Nutrients, 2021• mdpi.com
“In reviewing basic science research and clinical studies that have connected VK2 to factors involved in AD pathogenesis, we have found a growing body of evidence demonstrating that VK2 has the potential to slow the progression of AD and contribute to its prevention.”
“Our review is the first to consider the physiological roles of vitamin K2 in the context of AD, and, given the recent shift in AD research toward nonpharmacological interventions, our findings emphasize the timeliness and need for clinical studies involving vitamin K2.”
In the United States and worldwide there are increasing numbers of patients suffering from cognitive impairment and dementia, and further research is crucial in the fight against this debilitating and deadly condition.
Parkinson’s Disease
Mitochondria are called the power plants of the cell, responsible for supplying the energy for its operation. Mitochondrial dysfunction was proposed to be an integral player in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD) nearly 40 years ago, and since those initial discoveries, evidence of the role it may play in this neurodegeneration continues to increase.24
Parkinson’s patients have several genetic defects that lead to reduced mitochondrial activity. In one study, researchers found that fruit flies (Drosophila) with a Parkinson-like gene mutation, mutation lost their ability to fly. They found that the mitochondria in these flies were defective, just as in Parkinson’s patients. When the flies were given vitamin K2, the energy production in their mitochondria was restored and the insects’ ability to fly improved. The researchers were also able to determine that the energy production was restored because the vitamin K2 had improved electron transport in the mitochondria. Vitamin K2 plays a role in the energy production of defective mitochondria. Recently, a case-control study was conducted that involved 93 PD patients and 95 healthy controls. The researchers found the serum vitamin K2 level in Parkinson’s Disease patients is lower than that in healthy controls. Because defective mitochondria are also found in Parkinson’s Disease patients vitamin K2 potentially offers hope for a new treatment for PD.25
The decrease of vitamin K2 level may be related to the occurrence and progression of PD by loosening the regulation of inflammatory responses and coagulation cascades signal.26
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease characterized by multifocal demyelinating lesions in the central nervous system. Further, vitamin K2 was found to have beneficial effects on the nervous system–it seems to protect neurons and oligodendrocytes from oxidative injury. Moreover, vitamin K2 can reduce inflammation and the consequences of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Austrian researchers decided to assess vitamin K2 serum levels in MS patients in comparison to healthy controls and correlate these levels with clinical appearance, medication, and disability status. Overall, 45 MS patients and 29 healthy controls were included in the analysis. The vitamin K2 serum levels were more than three-fold higher in healthy controls as compared to MS patients healthy controls Vitamin K2 levels were lower with increasing numbers of attacks per year and were higher in patients with optic nerve lesions. The role of K2 in MS development and progress deserves further study.27
Migraine
In a case-control single-center observational study, researchers compared arterial stiffness and markers of vitamin K2 status between a cohort of patients with untreated migraine vs. their age- and sex-matched non-migraine controls. Individuals with migraine have worse indices of arterial stiffness as compared with their age- and sex-matched control subjects. This increase in arterial stiffness is correlated with an increase in markers of vitamin K2 deficiency. It seems that people who suffer from migraine might benefit from MK-7 supplementation. There is a need to direct the focus of research in this domain toward examining the effect of vitamin K2 supplementation on migraine frequency, arterial stiffness and cardiovascular outcome in patients with migraine.28
Peripheral neuropathy (PN)
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is a frequent and severe complication of diabetes. -ucMGP may be used as a biomarker of sensitive neuropathy.29
Another study with the objective to assess the efficacy, tolerability and safety of vitamin K2 as MK7 in patients with peripheral neuropathy was conducted in 100 study subjects participants presenting with Peripheral Neuropathy and also found to have either Type 2 Diabetes or a Vitamin B12 Deficiency. It showed that Vitamin K2 at a dose of 100 mcg twice a day for 8 weeks has a therapeutic activity for the symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy and Type 2 Diabetes. It helped to relieve the associated symptoms such as cramps, burning pain, weakness, and fatigue. Vitamin K2 as MK7 was also well tolerated by all patients. Thus, it proves that vitamin K2 as MK7 offers a confirming therapeutic effect in PN due to VBD or T2DM. Further, a multicentric placebo-controlled randomized double-blind trial can clearly establish the effect of vitamin K2 as MK7, also in case of residual neuropathy.30
The Need For An RDI
Researchers formulated a nine-criteria standard in 2014 for the purpose of assessing whether sufficient grounds exist for a nutraceutical to be considered for Reference Daily Intake (RDI).31 By evaluating current knowledge and studies, either performed or still ongoing, a paper recently published in the journal Nutrients assessed whether vitamin K2 meets these nine criteria.32 The Nutrients paper showed that vitamin K2 clearly passes the nine criteria set out for establishing bioactive RDI recommendation. Studies on Vitamin K2 administration have shown that it may significantly improve a number of health conditions.
Researchers hypothesize that adequate consumption of vitamin K2 can reduce the risk of occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, bone loss, and, potentially, other age-related diseases. Further research needs to be undertaken to enhance our knowledge in this area and consider establishing an RDI for vitamin K2 to improve health and reduce the socioeconomic consequences of an aging population of Vitamin K deficiency.
When it comes to adding a vitamin K2 supplement, experts say they are “generally safe for daily use,” but it is important to consult a health care provider first. Because of vitamin K’s blood-clotting side effects, it is important to clarify that you don’t have a health condition or take a medication such as a “blood thinner”that would be negatively impacted by Vitamin K supplementation.
