Soft Bones, Hard Arteries, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2 and antibiotics – Sept 2012

Poster presented at Vitamin D – Beyond the Bone – New York

6. SOFT BONES, HARD ARTERIES: THE ROLES OF VITAMIN D, "THE OTHER K", AND ANTIBIOTICS

F. Frank LeFever, PhD
New York Neuropsychology Group, New York, New York

Three "parallel" lines of research intersect: (1) cardiovascular research into arterial and aortic-valve calcification, (2) vitamin K research, (3) vitamin D research. An informal survey found that specialists whose patients took a vitamin K—blocking anticoagulant (warfarin) were all unaware there were two kinds of vitamin K (K1 = phylliquinone, K2 = menaquinones) and unaware of implications for arterial and aortic valve calcification; all knew "green leafy vegetables" lowered International Normalized Ratio (INR) but none knew of calcium-modulating K2 nor its bacterial origins. Vitamin K is recognized as a possible confound in vitamin D studies (Stojanovic et al. 2011), but rarely explored in research on Vitamin D's role in osteoporosis and cardiovascular calcification. Vitamin K researchers noticed the "calcification paradox" of soft bones and hard arteries early. Cardiovascular researchers tended to see this as due to "aging", but recently looked closely at the role of inflammatory signals in both (Hjortnaes et al. 2010). K2's blocking of inflammatory signals fits into that paradigm (Matsuda et al. 2010, Ohsaki et al. 2010, Yamaguchi & Weitzmann 2011) in ways congruent with D's complex immunological interactions (Hewison 2012). Kidd (2010) discusses synergy of D and K2 and possible mechanisms. Conversely, arterial calcification by high-dose vitamin D was accelerated when warfarin interfered with K2 (Price et al. 2000). Does the U-shaped function of D benefit/harm (Stojanovic et al. 2011) depend partly on vitamin K status of subjects?
Does antibiotic use with humans and food animals exacerbate widespread K2 deficiency? Adequate coagulation can mask deficient calcification control by K2.
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See also PDF attached at bottom of the page for much more information
Such as

See also Vitamin D Life

• Antibiotics and Vitamin D are associated with many of the same diseases
• Overview Vitamin K and Vitamin D
• All items in category Vitamin K2 127 items
• All items in Bone-Health 269 items
• 360X more bacterial genes than human genes in the body – June 2012
• Hypothesis: antibiotic resistant bacteria can be controlled with vitamin D
• Antibiotic use cut in half by elderly (over 70) after monthly 60,000 IU of vitamin D – RCT Dec 2013

See also web

• VITAMIN K DEFICIENCY AND ANTIBIOTICS LiveStrong June 2011
• Antibiotic-induced vitamin K deficiency and the role of the presence of intestinal flora. 1990
• Vitamin K Medline Plus
  Vitamin K deficiency is very rare. It occurs when the body can't properly absorb the vitamin from the intestinal tract.
  Vitamin K deficiency can also occur after long-term treatment with antibiotics.
• Vitamin K Univ. of Maryland
  Antibiotics — Antibiotics, especially those known as cephalosporins, reduce the absorption of vitamin K in the body.
  Using them for more than 10 days may lower levels of vitamin K because these drugs kill not only harmful bacteria but also the bacteria that make vitamin K.
  People who already have low levels of vitamin K, such as those who are malnourished, elderly, or taking warfarin (Coumadin) are at greater risk.
• Causes and Symptoms of Vitamin K Deficiency Yahoo Jan 2011
  The most frequent cause of Vitamin K deficiency is the long term use of antibiotics.
  Since about half of the Vitamin K in the body is produced by bacteria in the small intestines, the use of antibiotics, which kill that bacteria will lead to a drastic decrease in the amount of Vitamin K available for absorption.
  For this reason, individuals taking antibiotics are often given Vitamin K supplements.