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Review
. 2017;6(3):197-205.
doi: 10.1007/s13668-017-0208-8. Epub 2017 Jul 10.

The Role of Vitamin K Status in Cardiovascular Health: Evidence from Observational and Clinical Studies

A J van Ballegooijen  1 , J W Beulens  2   3
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Vitamin K Status in Cardiovascular Health: Evidence from Observational and Clinical Studies

A J van Ballegooijen et al. Curr Nutr Rep. 2017.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin required for the activation of several vitamin K-dependent proteins to confer functioning. A growing body of evidence supports that vitamin K has beneficial effects on bone and cardiovascular health. This review summarizes key evidence on vitamin K status as measured by circulating measures and cardiovascular outcomes.

Recent findings: Overall, observational studies indicate that low vitamin K status as measured by high dephosphorylated uncarboxylated matrix gla protein concentrations plays a potential role in cardiovascular disease development, particularly in high-risk and chronic kidney disease populations. Very few vitamin K intervention trials have been conducted with cardiovascular-related outcomes. A couple of intervention trials studied the effect of the combination of vitamin D + K supplementation, which might have synergistic effects compared to vitamin K supplementation alone.

Summary: Assessing vitamin K status in prospective studies and well-designed randomized trials would provide important insight whether vitamin K is causally related to vascular calcification and cardiovascular disease.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Matrix gla protein; Vascular calcification; Vitamin K.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

A.J. van Ballegooijen declares that she has no conflict of interest.

J.W. Beulens has received research funding through grants from Unilever R&D and FrieslandCampina, and compensation for a presentation from the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, not related to the submitted work.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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