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Vitamin K2 in health and disease: a clinical perspective

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posted on 2024-11-12, 17:41 authored by Tao Zhang, Christine O’Connor, Helen Sheridan, James BarlowJames Barlow
Vitamins are essential organic compounds that vary widely in chemical structure and are vital in small quantities for numerous biochemical and biological functions. They are critical for metabolism, growth, development and maintaining overall health. Vitamins are categorised into two groups: hydrophilic and lipophilic. Vitamin K (VK), a lipophilic vitamin, occurs naturally in two primary forms: phylloquinone (VK1), found in green leafy vegetables and algae, and Menaquinones (VK2), present in certain fermented and animal foods and widely formulated in VK supplements. This review explores the possible factors contributing to VK deficiency, including dietary influences, and discusses the pharmacological and therapeutic potential of supplementary VK2, examining recent global clinical studies on its role in treating diseases such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders and cancers. The analysis includes a review of published articles from multiple databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, ISI Web of Science and CNKI, focusing on human studies. The findings indicate that VK2 is a versatile vitamin essential for human health and that a broadly positive correlation exists between VK2 supplementation and improved health outcomes. However, clinical data are somewhat inconsistent, highlighting the need for further detailed research into VK2′s metabolic processes, biomarker validation, dose–response relationships, bioavailability and safety. Establishing a Recommended Daily Intake for VK2 could significantly enhance global health.

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Data Availability Statement

No new data were created or analyzed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article

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The original article is available at https://www.mdpi.com/

Published Citation

Zhang T, O'Connor C, Sheridan H, Barlow JW. Vitamin K2 in health and disease: a clinical perspective. Foods. 2024;13(11):1646.

Publication Date

24 May 2024

PubMed ID

38890875

Department/Unit

  • Chemistry

Research Area

  • Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Publisher

MDPI AG

Version

  • Published Version (Version of Record)