Vitamin K2 and bone health: a systematic review
Iwamoto, I., Kosha, S., Noguchi, S.
Published in Nutrition Research
Abstract
Systematic review of menaquinone effects on bone mineral density and fracture risk
Methodology
Systematic review of published clinical trials of vitamin K2 supplementation reporting bone mineral density, bone turnover markers and fracture outcomes.
Key Findings
Review of vitamin K2 (menaquinone) trials, dominated by Japanese studies of high-dose MK-4 (45 mg/day), reported improved bone mineral density maintenance and reduced vertebral and non-vertebral fracture rates in postmenopausal and osteoporotic women, with effects on bone quality via osteocalcin carboxylation rather than density alone.
Conclusions
High-dose vitamin K2 shows fracture-reduction signals in Japanese osteoporosis trials, but the evidence is geographically narrow and later large Western trials have been less convincing.
Limitations
Included trials mostly from one country with small samples and methodological weaknesses, publication bias likely, pharmacological MK-4 doses far exceed dietary intake, and subsequent large trials did not replicate the fracture benefit.
Supplements Studied
Review of vitamin K2 (menaquinone) trials, dominated by Japanese studies of high-dose MK-4 (45 mg/day), reported improved bone mineral density maintenance and reduced vertebral and non-vertebral fracture rates in postmenopausal and osteoporotic women, with effects on bone quality via osteocalcin carboxylation rather than density alone.
Review of vitamin K2 (menaquinone) trials, dominated by Japanese studies of high-dose MK-4 (45 mg/day), reported improved bone mineral density maintenance and reduced vertebral and non-vertebral fracture rates in postmenopausal and osteoporotic women, with effects on bone quality via osteocalcin carboxylation rather than density alone.
Outcomes Measured
Review of vitamin K2 (menaquinone) trials, dominated by Japanese studies of high-dose MK-4 (45 mg/day), reported improved bone mineral density maintenance and reduced vertebral and non-vertebral fracture rates in postmenopausal and osteoporotic women, with effects on bone quality via osteocalcin carboxylation rather than density alone.
Study Details
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Disclosures
Funding
Academic institutional funding
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