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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2025 Feb 27;17(5):815.
doi: 10.3390/nu17050815.

Effects of One-Year Menaquinone-7 Supplementation on Vascular Stiffness and Blood Pressure in Post-Menopausal Women

Femke de Vries  1 , Rudolf Bittner  1   2 , Katarzyna Maresz  3 , François Machuron  4 , Olav Gåserød  2 , Jean-François Jeanne  5 , Leon J Schurgers  1   6
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of One-Year Menaquinone-7 Supplementation on Vascular Stiffness and Blood Pressure in Post-Menopausal Women

Femke de Vries et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Post-menopausal women are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Menaquinone-7 (MK-7) is a fat-soluble vitamin involved in coagulation and maintaining vascular health. The aim of the post hoc analysis of this one-year study is to investigate the effects of MK-7 supplementation on the vascular parameters in pre-, peri-, and post-menopausal women. Methods: In a clinical intervention trial (NCT02404519), a total of 165 women with a low vitamin K status received either 180 µg of MK-7 daily (n = 82) or a matching placebo (n = 83) for one year. Established vascular parameters were measured before and after one year of vitamin K2 supplementation. Pre-, peri-, and post-menopausal women were subdivided according to arterial stiffness, with a high b-stiffness index defined as being greater than the overall median of 9.83. Results: The post hoc analyses showed a significant decrease in desphospho-uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein (dp-ucMGP) plasma levels after MK-7 supplementation (pre/peri, p = 0.009; post, p < 0.001). MK-7 treatment significantly attenuated vascular stiffness in post-menopausal women (placebo +49.1% ± 77.4; MK-7 +9.4% ± 67.1; p = 0.035). Post-menopausal women with a high stiffness index showed significantly improved vascular markers after MK-7 treatment, e.g., a decreased blood pressure at brachialis (-3.0% ± 9.0; p = 0.007) and an increased distensibility coefficient (+13.3% ± 32.3; p = 0.040). Conclusions: Our results confirm that menopause affects vascular health status. Post-menopausal women with an increased stiffness benefit most from MK-7 supplementation, with a significantly improved blood pressure. Further research is needed to unravel the beneficial effects of MK-7 in post-menopausal women.

Keywords: blood pressure; post-menopause; pre/peri-menopause; vascular stiffness; vitamin k homeostasis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Olav Gåserød and Jean-François Jeanne are full-time employees of Gnosis by Lesaffre (Lesaffre International) and François Machuron is full-time employee of Lesaffre International. Femke de Vries, Rudolf Bittner, and Leon J. Schurgers (working for the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM)) and Katarzyna Maresz have a scientific collaboration and received research fundings from Gnosis by Lesaffre, Lesaffre International. Leon Schurgers is a shareholder of Coagulation profile BV.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relative change from baseline in Young’s modulus within treatment groups in post-menopausal women population (mean ± standard error). Adjusted p-value is depicted using Benjamini–Hochberg method. * p-value < 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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