Comparison of menaquinone-4 and menaquinone-7 bioavailability in healthy women

• Published in: Nutrition journal Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 93 - 545
• Main Authors: Sato, Toshiro, Schurgers, Leon J, Uenishi, Kazuhiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 12.11.2012; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: Absorption; Adult; Age; analogs & derivatives; Bioavailability; blood; Bone Density Conservation Agents; Bone Density Conservation Agents - blood; Bone Density Conservation Agents - metabolism; bones; Breakfast; Cardiovascular Agents; Cardiovascular Agents - blood; Cardiovascular Agents - metabolism; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Clinical Nutrition; Comparative analysis; Dietary Supplements; Dietary supplements industry; Female; Females; food industry; Food, Fortified; foods; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Humans; Intestinal Absorption; Kinetics; Limit of Detection; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Menaquinone-4; Menaquinone-7; metabolism; nutrients; Nutrition; Nutrition research; nutritional support; Nutritive Value; Short Report; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; vitamin K; Vitamin K 2; Vitamin K 2 - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin K 2 - blood; Vitamin K 2 - metabolism; Vitamin K2; Vitamins; Women; Young Adult; Japan; Menaquinone-4; Absorption; Bioavailability; Menaquinone-7; Vitamin K
• ISSN: 1475-2891; 1475-2891
• DOI: 10.1186/1475-2891-11-93

Background Vitamin K 2 contributes to bone and cardiovascular health. Therefore, two vitamin K 2 homologues, menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and menaquinone-7 (MK-7), have been used as nutrients by the food industry and as nutritional supplements to support bone and cardiovascular health. However, little is known about the bioavailability of nutritional MK-4. To investigate MK-4 and MK-7 bioavailability, nutritional doses were administered to healthy Japanese women. Findings Single dose administration of MK-4 (420 μg; 945 nmol) or MK-7 (420 μg; 647 nmol) was given in the morning together with standardized breakfast. MK-7 was well absorbed and reached maximal serum level at 6 h after intake and was detected up to 48 h after intake. MK-4 was not detectable in the serum of all subjects at any time point. Consecutive administration of MK-4 (60 μg; 135 nmol) or MK-7 (60 μg; 92 nmol) for 7 days demonstrated that MK-4 supplementation did not increase serum MK-4 levels. However, consecutive administration of MK-7 increased serum MK-7 levels significantly in all subjects. Conclusions We conclude that MK-4 present in food does not contribute to the vitamin K status as measured by serum vitamin K levels. MK-7, however significantly increases serum MK-7 levels and therefore may be of particular importance for extrahepatic tissues.