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Associations between Vitamin K Biochemical Measures and Bone Mineral Density in Men and Women

Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (S.L.B., J.W.P., B.D.-H.), Boston, Massachusetts 02111; the Framingham Heart Study (P.W.F.W.), Framingham, Massachusetts 01702; Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged Research and Training Institute (K.E.B., D.P.K.) and Harvard Medical School Division on Aging (D.P.K.), Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02131; Departments of Medicine and Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology (P.W.F.W.) and the Department of Biostatistics (D.M.C., L.A.C.), Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02118; and Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation (C.M.G.), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06510

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Sarah L. Booth, Ph.D., Vitamin K Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. E-mail: sarah.booth{at}tufts.edu.

Few data exist on the association between vitamin K status and bone mineral density (BMD) in men and women of varying ages. We examined cross-sectional associations between biochemical measures of vitamin K status and BMD at the hip and spine in 741 men and 863 women (mean age, 59 yr; range, 32–86 yr) who participated in the Framingham Heart Study (1996–2000). Vitamin K status was assessed by plasma phylloquinone and percentage undercarboxylated osteocalcin (%ucOC). Among the men, low plasma phylloquinone concentrations adjusted for triglycerides and elevated serum %ucOC levels were associated with low BMD at the femoral neck (P = 0.03 and 0.009, respectively). Among postmenopausal women not using estrogen replacements, low plasma phylloquinone concentrations were associated with low spine BMD (P = 0.007), with a nonsignificant trend of an elevated serum %ucOC with low spine BMD (P = 0.08). In contrast, there were no significant associations between biochemical measures of vitamin K and BMD in either premenopausal women or postmenopausal women using estrogen replacements. Clinical trials are required to isolate any putative effects of vitamin K on rates of bone loss. The target population in these trials, particularly in regard to estrogen use, may be critical, as suggested by the findings of this study.

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