Biomarkers indicating a low vitamin K status were associated with impaired cognitive function in a recent population-based observational study of 800 community-dwelling older adults.
 
The study, appearing in Frontiers in Nutrition, recruited a population with a mean age of 75.9, and conducted a geriatric health examination, including a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) along with a blood test. In that blood test, they specifically measured serum undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC), which is considered a biomarker for low vitamin K status.
 
Using binary logistic regression analysis, there were significant differences in cognitive impairment risks for each tertile of ucOC that was examined. Specifically, those in the population who were in the highest tertile (having the highest ucOC concentrations) were 65% more likely to have impaired performances in measures of orientation, calculation, and language, as measured by the MMSE score.
 
“As far as we know, this is the first report on the significant association of single ucOC measurement and cognitive impairment,” the authors of the study reported. “Our analysis also suggests that vitamin K insufficiency could be associated with selected categories of cognitive function. Since the single measurement of ucOC in serum is a simple and widely available method for vitamin K evaluation, it could be useful as a biomarker of neurodegenerative diseases affecting the cognitive functions.”
 
These findings are in line with a previous study on the same matter which took place in Spain. In this study, which was published in Age and Aging, researchers evaluated two years of changes in dietary vitamin K intake with a cognitive function measured through neuropsychological performance tests. “An increase of dietary vitamin K was associated with better cognitive function scores, independently of recognized risk factors for cognitive decline, in an older adult Mediterranean population with high cardiovascular risk,” the authors of this study concluded.
 
“We have worked with world-renowned researchers as NattoPharma and that work continues at Gnosis by Lesaffre to confirm the safe and effective health benefits of MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 as MK-7. Elucidating the important mechanism of activating K-dependent proteins, including osteocalcin and Matrix Gla protein (MGP), was a foundational piece of that work,” said Dr. Hogne Vik, chief medical officer with Gnosis by Lesaffre. Vik referenced a 2021 US-based review, appearing in Nutrients, which highlights a wide range of research which suggests Vitamin K2 as a potential strategy for Alzheimer’s disease. “Based on our research and the critical work that continues, we can hypothesize that K2 supplementation could prove beneficial in the brain development of children and support healthy brain function in adults.”

While the present study specifically looked at a biomarker of vitamin K status, Gnosis by Lessafre noted that previous research has demonstrated supplementation with its K2 ingredient, marketed as MenaQ7, has improved vitamin K status as measured by ucOC. 

Vik also noted that while Vitamin K2 as MK-4 has been noted as the main form of vitamin K in the brain, “it is important to mention that in-vivo research supports that supplementation with K2 as MK-7 increases MK-4 content in the brain tissue,” he concluded.