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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 24^th 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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