A Danish population study published in Clinical Biochemistry concluded that high levels of inactive matrix Gla Protein (MGP), a known biomarker for vitamin K status, is linked to a risk for cardiovascular disease, due to the preventative role that vitamin K2 plays in vascular calcification. This adds to a growing base of evidence yielded from clinical trials supported by NattoPharma, the makers of vitamin K2 as MK-7, which demonstrate that this form of vitamin K may have unique cardioprotective benefits compared to other compounds in the vitamin K family.
 
According to the study, high blood concentrations of MGP reflects a low vitamin K status, which has previously been linked to vascular calcification. The purpose of the study was to assess the association between plasma undercarboxylated GMP (dp-ucMGP), CVD risk factors, and history of CVD in a general population. In total, plasma dp-ucMGP measurements were administered to 491 consecutive participants in a Danish general population study, which was made up of 229 males and 262 females between the ages of 19 and 71.
 
“Increased plasma dp-ucMGP levels were positively associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as arterial stiffness (as reflected by increased ePWV), hypertension, obesity, and history of CVD events,” the authors wrote. “These findings support that dp-ucMGP is a biomarker of cardiovascular risk and lend support to the hypothesis that vitamin K status plays a role in vascular calcification and risk of CVD […] Prospective studies could establish the causal direction of these associations and whether increased vitamin K intake represents a preventive measure against vascular calcification and CVD risk.”
 
The researchers also noted that vitamin K2 may be distinctly associated with decreased cardiovascular risk and all-cause mortality risk, compared to vitamin K1.
 
NattoPharma, the manufacturers of MenaQ7, a proprietary form of vitamin K2 as menaquinone, said that they are encouraged by the findings, which further solidify a base of evidence that K2 is an essential cardio-protective nutrient.
 
“It still remains a common misunderstanding that vitamin K, in general, impacts arterial calcification, when in fact it is vitamin K2 that is available beyond the liver to support bone and cardiovascular health,” Dr. Hogne Vik, Nattopharma’s chief medical officer, said. “Our studies with MenaQ7 have shown that K status was more efficiently improved in adults as well as children with supplementation of vitamin K2 as MK-7. Both of Nattopharma’s cardiovascular intervention trials showed improved vascular health with just 180 mcg – our three-year study in healthy postmenopausal women showed improved arterial flexibility, and now our one-year study in men and women showed a significant decrease in dp-ucMGP.”