Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #372834

Research Project: Nutrient Metabolism and Musculoskeletal Health in Older Adults

Location: Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging

Title: The contribution of lipids to the inter-individual response of vitamin K biomarkers to vitamin K supplementation

Author
item KELLY, JENNIFER - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item ORDOVAS, JOSE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item MATUSZEK, GREGORY - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item SMITH, CAREN - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item HUGGINS, GORDON - Tufts Medical Center
item DASHTI, HASSAN - Harvard University
item ICHIKAWA, REIKO - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item BOOTH, SARAH - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Molecular Nutrition and Food Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/17/2019
Publication Date: 9/18/2019
Citation: Kelly, J.M., Ordovas, J.M., Matuszek, G.H., Smith, C.E., Huggins, G.S., Dashti, H.S., Ichikawa, R., Booth, S.L. 2019. The contribution of lipids to the inter-individual response of vitamin K biomarkers to vitamin K supplementation. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.201900399.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.201900399

Interpretive Summary: Individuals vary considerably in their response to vitamin K. Therefore, we examined the contribution of blood lipids to an individual's response to vitamin K supplementation in older men and women, to better understand this variability in response among individuals. Using data from individuals who had completed a vitamin K supplementation trial, we found that triglycerides, but not cholesterol, influenced the amount of vitamin K found in blood in response to vitamin K supplementation. In men, but not women, genes that influence blood triglycerides also influenced changes in the amount of vitamin K in circulation. However, blood lipids and their related genes did not influence changes in proteins that reflect vitamin K function.

Technical Abstract: Scope: A better understanding of factors contributing to interindividual variability in biomarkers of vitamin K can enhance the understanding of the equivocal role of vitamin K in cardiovascular disease. Based on the known biology of phylloquinone, the major form of vitamin K, it is hypothesized that plasma lipids contribute to the variable response of biomarkers of vitamin K metabolism to phylloquinone supplementation. Methods and results: The association of plasma lipids and 27 lipid-related genetic variants with the response of biomarkers of vitamin K metabolism is examined in a secondary analysis of data from a 3-year phylloquinone supplementation trial in men (n = 66) and women (n = 85). Year 3 plasma triglycerides (TG), but not total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, or HDL-cholesterol, are associated with the plasma phylloquinone response (men: beta = 1.01, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.34; women: beta = 0.61, p = 0.008, R^2 = 0.11; sex interaction p = 0.077). Four variants and the TG-weighted genetic risk score are associated with the plasma phylloquinone response in men only. Plasma lipids are not associated with changes in biomarkers of vitamin K function (undercarboxylated osteocalcin and matrix gla protein) in either sex. Conclusion: Plasma TG are an important determinant of the interindividual response of plasma phylloquinone to phylloquinone supplementation, but changes in biomarkers of vitamin K carboxylation are not influenced by lipids.