Role of vitamin K2 on cardiovascular health subject of presentation at nephrology symposium

Photo © AdobeStock.com/Маргарита Медведева

A presentation that took place during the 10th Annual Nephrology Symposium 2022 highlighted the importance of vitamin K2 in vascular calcification and the potential impact it may have for chronic kidney disease patients. Central to the discussion was a new study that is investigating the effects of 1 mg of MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 as MK-7 from Gnosis by Lesaffre (Marcq-en-Baroeul, France, and East Brunswick, NJ) versus placebo on arterial stiffness and the occurrence of cardiovascular events in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis over the course of 1.5 years. The multi-center, placebo-controlled, randomized, open-label clinical trial, titled “The Effect of Vitamin K2 Supplementation on Arterial stiffness and Cardiovascular Events in PEritoneal DIAlysis (VIKIPEDIA),” is being led by Stefanos Roumeliotis, MD, PhD and his colleagues at the Aristotle University of Thessoloniki in Greece in collaboration with Gnosis by Lesaffre research partner Maastricht University, in the Netherlands. Roumeliotis was one of the presenters discussing the potential benefits of vitamin K2 at the symposium.

“Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in end-stage kidney disease patients undergoing maintenance dialysis, mainly due to accelerated vascular calcification. Having this in mind, it is crucial to investigate possible novel therapeutic choices to abrogate vascular calcification in these patients,” explains Roumeliotis, in a press release. “Exogenous supplementation of vitamin K2 in dialysis patients has proven to be safe and well tolerated. This present study aims to elucidate whether increased vitamin K intake in peritoneal dialysis patients might be of cardiovascular benefit.

“VIKIPEDIA is the first study to assess whether a high dosage of menaquinone-7 could improve arterial stiffness, mortality, cardiovascular disease, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure, and dialysis efficacy in patients with peritoneal dialysis,” he adds. “MenaQ7 was chosen to be used in the study because the compound showed its efficacy to improve vitamin K status in many clinical trials with kidney patients.”

“The implications of vitamin K2 being a part of this symposium are immeasurable,” offers Sophie Legrain, Gnosis by Lesaffre Director of R&D. “It cannot be overstated the importance of every possible opportunity to advance industry, academic, and medical understanding of this essential nutrient. The VIKIPEDIA Trial using such a high dosage of our MenaQ7 K2 supports its high safety profile, and we are excited at the potential positive results can offer for an at-risk patient population.”