Written by Joyce Smith, BS. Study participants with rheumatoid arthritis had significant improvement in clinical and biochemical parameters for bone health after three months of MK-7 supplementation.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the entire body or multiple small joints 1 causing inflammation, pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in the effected joints. A healthy immune system protects the body by attacking foreign bacteria and viruses; however, in an autoimmune disease such as RA, a triggered and over reactive immune system releases a cascade of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukins IL 1, IL 6, IL 17 and tumor nNecrosis factor (TNF-alpha) that stimulate antibody production. These antibodies mistakenly attack healthy tissue including the synovial membrane of joints, a process which over time, causes hyperplasia of synovial cells that leads to the joint damage we see in RA 2.
Vitamin K2, derived from animal sources, is known as menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and is important in blood clotting and bone and joint health while Vitamin K2, produced by bacterial fermentation, as found in natto, is known as menaquinone-7 (MK-7) 3. Researchers chose to explore the greater bioavailability and potential effectiveness of MK-7 as a potentially safer treatment option than methotrexate for RA 3,4.
The study 5 objective was to determine the effectiveness of MK-7 against autoimmune cytokines by measuring specific biomarkers of inflammation in the body. A total of 84 RA patients of Egyptian ethnicity and with different stages of the disease (24 male, 60 female) were randomized into an MK-7 intervention group that received 100 mcg of MK-7 /day ((n=42) and a control group (n=42) that received no MK-7 for three months. Both groups maintained their existing anti-rheumatic drugs.
Biochemical and clinical markers such as rheumatoid factor (RF), osteocalcin (OC), MMP-3, ESR, and CRP were assessed before and after MK-7 treatment to evaluate changes in symptoms and bone health. DAS28-ESR was used to calculate RA disease activity score on 28 joints 6. Routine hematological counts and ESR were done monthly for 12 months to determine the clinical effects of MK-7 on RA disease activity. The intervention group (42) was subdivided into a moderate or good response group and a non-response group. Those with increased disease symptoms (DAS28-ESR >5.1) were considered non-responders while those with decreased disease symptoms (DAS28-ESR < 3.2) were good responders.
After three months of MK-7 intervention, (100 ug/day), the 42 RA patients in the MK-7 group had significantly higher levels of MK-7 relative to their pretreatment levels. (P<0.001). Moderate and good responders also had significantly higher levels of MK-7 and lowered serum levels of CRP, ESR, and DAS28-ESR compared to the non-response group (P<0.003). When comparing the MK-7 group of 42 to the naive MK-7 group of 42, MK-7 levels in the MK-7 group were significantly higher further validating that MK-7improves disease activity in RA patients and has potential as a combination therapy with antirheumatic drugs.
While this study suggests that MK-7 may improve RA disease activity in the participating subjects and may therefore be used in combination with other therapies, the limited number of participants warrants additional larger scale studies.
Source: Abdel-Rahman, Mahran S., Eman AM Alkady, and Sameh Ahmed. “Menaquinone-7 as a novel pharmacological therapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: A clinical study.” European journal of pharmacology 761 (2015): 273-278.
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Posted July 25, 2017.
References:
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- Sato T, Schurgers LJ, Uenishi K. Comparison of menaquinone-4 and menaquinone-7 bioavailability in healthy women. Nutrition journal. 2012;11(1):93.
- Okamoto H, Shidara K, Hoshi D, Kamatani N. Anti‐arthritis effects of vitamin K2 (menaquinone‐4)− a new potential therapeutic strategy for rheumatoid arthritis. The FEBS journal. 2007;274(17):4588-4594.
- Abdel-Rahman MS, Alkady EA, Ahmed S. Menaquinone-7 as a novel pharmacological therapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: A clinical study. European journal of pharmacology. 2015;761:273-278.
- Nielung L, Christensen R, Danneskiold-Samsøe B, et al. Validity and agreement between the 28-joint Disease Activity Score based on C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis. 2015;2015.
