Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Researchers found a 34% increased risk of calcium in the arteries for those with low vitamin K levels.
Cardiovascular Disease causes 1 in 4 U.S. deaths every year, causing 715,000 heart attacks, 795,000 strokes, and costing our healthcare system $108.9 billion per year (1). One of the hallmarks of cardiovascular disease is calcium deposition in the arteries, causing the arteries to “harden” and significantly increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
While risk factors for cardiovascular disease include diabetes, overweight and obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use (1), levels of calcium in the arteries has been found to be an independent marker for cardiovascular disease risk (2). Now a new study (3) suggests that vitamin K1 known to help prevent a progression of calcium buildup in the arteries of mice by activating a protein a protein called MGP (4), may help slow calcium buildup in the arteries of humans.
In the study, 296 patients between the ages of 54 and 74 participating in the Multi-Ethnic Study of atherosclerosis (MESA) (5) with “extreme coronary artery calcium progression” had their vitamin K1 blood levels measured. Their levels were compared to 596 age-matched healthy subjects without extreme coronary artery calcium progression. A participant was considered to have extreme progression if they had coronary artery calcification at the start of the study that progressed more than was predicted according to risk factors identified in the MESA study. The subjects were followed up for 2.4 to 2.7 years.
While the researchers found a 34% increased risk of calcific artery progression for those with vitamin K blood levels < 1.0 nanomoles/Liter compared to those with vitamin K blood levels > 1.0 nmol/L, this result was not statistically significant (p = 0.11). What they did find that had not been found before was the increased risk of coronary artery calcification progression for those on high blood pressure medications. Specifically, those on high blood pressure medications with vitamin K1 blood levels < 1.0 nmol/L had a 137% increased risk of coronary artery calcification progression compared to those with vitamin K1 blood levels > 1.0 nmol/L (p = 0.016).
When attempting to explain why those on blood pressure medications and low vitamin K1 blood levels had such a high risk of coronary artery calcium progression, the researchers pointed to the fact that many blood pressure medications interact with MGP, the protein that vitamin K1 affects (4). But without enough vitamin K1 in the blood to help blood pressure medications interact with MGP, artery calcification is not halted, “which suggested that vitamin K may complement high blood pressure medications with respect to vascular calcification.”
For the researchers, “future mechanistic and clinical studies are needed to understand why vitamin K appears to be more relevant to coronary artery calcium progression in persons being treated for high blood pressure and to determine whether vitamin K’s role in coronary artery calcium progression differs according to specific classes of hypertension medications.”
Source: Shea, M. Kyla, et al. “Association between circulating vitamin K1 and coronary calcium progression in community-dwelling adults: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 98.1 (2013): 197-208.
© 2013 American Society for Nutrition
Posted July 15, 2013.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com
References:
- “Heart Disease Facts and Statistics” posted on the CDC website.
- Shaw LJ, Raggi P, Schisterman E, Berman DS, Callister TQ. Prognostic value of cardiac risk factors and coronary artery calcium screening for all-cause mortality. Radiology 2003;228:826–33.
- Shea MK. Association between circulating vitamin K1 and coronary calcium progression in community-dwelling adults: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jul;98(1):197-208. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.056101. Epub 2013 May 29.
- Luo G, Ducy P, McKee MD, Pinero GJ, Loyer E, Behringer RR, Karsenty G. Spontaneous calcification of arteries and cartilage in mice lacking matrix GLA protein. Nature 1997;386:78–81.
- Kronmal RA, McClelland RL, Detrano R, Shea S, Lima JA, Cushman M, Bild DE, Burke GL. Risk factors for the progression of coronary artery calcification in asymptomatic subjects: results from the Multi- Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Circulation 2007;115:2722–30.
