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Low Bone Mineral Density and Quantitative Ultrasound in Men Associated with Low Vitamin K Status: Presented at ASBMR
By Coriene E. Hannapel
Special to DG News
SAN ANTONIO, TX -- September 23, 2002 - Low vitamin K status is associated with low quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and low bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck and trochanter, suggests the results a Framingham Study Offspring cohort of 734 men.
Sara L. Booth, M.D. USDA HNRCA at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, presented the study results here at the 24th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Dr. Booth indicated that this was an epidemiological study and that vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables and thus, vitamin levels may be a marker for healthy diet and lifestyle. Vitamin K supplementation trials are needed to evaluate the role of vitamin K in reducing bone loss, she stressed.
This study examined the association between fasting plasma vitamin K levels, serum % undercarboxylated osteocalcin (%ucOC), BMD, and QUS of the calcaneus. "What we did was measure the amount of vitamin K in circulation and use the more sensitive measures of vitamin K status which was % undercarboxylated osteocalcin," Dr. Booth said. "We corrected for triglycerides because vitamin K is transported in the blood by triglyceride-rich lipoproteins."
Study participants had a mean (SD) age of 59 (9) years, a mean (SD) vitamin K level of 1.5 (2.0) nmol/L, and a mean (SD) %ucOC of 15.8 (16. 1).
Regression models were used to evaluate the association between vitamin K status, BMD and QUS, Dr. Booth said.
"What we found was that the higher the amounts of vitamin K in the plasma, the higher the BMD," Dr. booth said. Results indicated that plasma vitamin K levels were positively associated with femoral neck BMD, with a non-significant trend between plasma vitamin K levels and BMD of the trochanter.
There was a negative association between %ucOC and BMD of the femoral neck and trochanter.
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