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Nutrients publishes rationale and protocol for study of a needy patient population that will validate calcification mechanism in cardio tissues. Nutrients, an international, peer-reviewed journal for studies related to Human Nutrition, has approved a new study rational that aims to show the protective effect of vitamin K2 as MK-7 (menaquinone-7; MenaQ7® PURE provided by ex-NattoPharma … Continue reading MenaQ7® PURE Study Protocol Published (VitaK-CAC)
Nutrients publishes rationale and protocol for study of a needy patient population that will validate calcification mechanism in cardio tissues.
Nutrients, an international, peer-reviewed journal for studies related to Human Nutrition, has approved a new study rational that aims to show the protective effect of vitamin K2 as MK-7 (menaquinone-7; MenaQ7® PURE provided by ex-NattoPharma ASA) supplementation on holding the progression of coronary artery calcification for publication in October 2015.
The study, “Menaquinone-7 supplementation to reduce vascular calcification in patients with coronary artery disease: rationale and study protocol (VitaK-CAC trial),” will be significant because it will add to the substantial body of evidence demonstrating the cardiovascular benefits of Vitamin K2 as MK-7, lending further understanding to the mechanism by which it inhibits calcification to cardiovascular muscle.
“Coronary artery calcification (CAC) develops early in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and is a strong and independent predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Arterial calcification is caused by an imbalance in calcification regulatory mechanisms. An important inhibitor of calcification is vitamin K-dependent matrix Gla protein (MGP). Both preclinical and clinical studies have shown that inhibition of the vitamin K-cycle by vitamin K antagonists (VKA) results in elevated uncarboxylated MGP (ucMGP) and subsequently in extensive arterial calcification,” says Dr. Leon Schurgers, associate professor and senior scientist at the department of biochemistry, the Cardiovascular Research Institute CARIM of University of Maastricht (The Netherlands), and researcher on the study. “This led us hypothesize that supplementation with vitamin K2 as MK-7 may slow down progression of CAC.
Aim of limiting or holding the progression of vascular calcification
The researchers designed the VitaK-CAC trial to analyze the effects of menaquinone-7 (MK-7) supplementation on progression of CAC. The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will randomize patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) with a baseline Agatston CAC-score between 50 and 400 into an intervention-group (360 microgram MK-7) or placebo-group for 24 months. The primary endpoint is the difference in CAC-score progression between both groups. Secondary endpoints include changes in arterial structure and function and associations with biomarkers.
The researchers hope that the MK-7 supplementation will slow down the progression of CAC in patients with CAD. The results of this study are expected by the end of 2017.
“So far, no treatment options are available for limiting or holding the progression of vascular calcification,” adds Dr. Schurgers, “and this trial may lead to a novel treatment option for vascular calcification and cardiovascular disease.” “All of the work showing the efficacy of MK-7 inhibiting cardiovascular and soft tissue calcification is recognized to the extent that scientific experts are conducting clinical studies in advanced CAC patients,” says Hogne Vik, ex-NattoPharma CEO. “We hope this trial demonstrates the benefit of vitamin K2 as MK-7 (as our MenaQ7 PURE material) for diseased populations, lending further support and understanding to the mechanism of action by which this essential nutrient inhibits arterial calcification.”
Thrombosis and Haemostasis, The International Journal for Vascular Biology and Medicine, has approved for publication in its May 2015 print issue a new study showing the positive impact of MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 (menaquinone-7) on cardiovascular health through its improvement of arterial flexibility. The study titled “Menaquinone-7 Supplementation Improves Arterial Stiffness in Healthy … Continue reading MenaQ7 3-year Cardio Study
Thrombosis and Haemostasis, The International Journal for Vascular Biology and Medicine, has approved for publication in its May 2015 print issue a new study showing the positive impact of MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 (menaquinone-7) on cardiovascular health through its improvement of arterial flexibility.
The study titled “Menaquinone-7 Supplementation Improves Arterial Stiffness in Healthy Postmenopausal Women”[1] is significant because it confirms what previous population-based studies have only been able to show an association, according to Cees Vermeer, renowned vitamin K2 scientist and Chief Innovation Officer at the R&D Group VitaK of the Maastricht University Holding (the Netherlands), who led the study’s research team.
“This is the first study showing that long-term use of vitamin K2 in the form of MK-7 beneficially affects cardiovascular health,” says Vermeer. “Previous population-based studies have shown an association between vitamin K2 intake and cardiovascular risk, but this is the first intervention trial focused on Vitamin K2 supplementation with cardiovascular endpoints.”
Researchers at the R&D Group VitaK of the Maastricht University Holding in the Netherlands monitored 244 healthy post-menopausal women for three years using pulse wave velocity and ultrasound techniques. The participants, aged 55-65 years, were randomly assigned to take 180 mcg of MenaQ7® daily for three years, or placebo capsules. Results confirmed that MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 not only inhibited age-related stiffening of the artery walls, but also made an unprecedented statistically significant improvement of vascular elasticity.
“Our data demonstrated that a nutritional dose of vitamin K2 in fact improves cardiovascular outcomes,” Vermeer continues.
This same cohort was examined for another study proving MenaQ7’s bone benefits that published in Osteoporosis International in 2013[2].
“Both studies are significant because they are long-term – three years of participation and then examination of the results,” said Hogne Vik, ex-NattoPharma CEO. “Observing changes in heart health, and bone health for that matter, take time. Our patience and perserverence has paid off with a study accepted by a highly prestigious medical journal that proves what we have known all along: that MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 truly delivers benefits for hearts and bones.”
Vitamin K2 benefits bone and heart health
“This cardiovascular study is significant because it shows that vitamin K2 not only benefits our bone health, but is also important to heart health,” said Dennis Goodman, MD, board-certified cardiologist and Director of Integrative Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. “Vitamin K2 ensures calcium binds to the bone mineral matrix and stays out of the arteries. This is important because if calcium accumulates in the arteries, it may cause blockages that can lead to serious cardiovascular events, such as heart disease and strokes.”
Dr. Goodman, who is completing a new book explaining the important role that vitamin K2 plays in achieving both bone and heart health, says flexibility of the arteries also has a direct connection to a person’s longevity. Calcification in the arteries has been shown to add 10 years to a person’s biological age, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (Rosenhek, et al., 2000). Another study published in the scientific journal Atherosclerosis (Shaw et al., vol. 188, 206) shows your biological age could decrease or increase by 10 years based on the level of age-related arterial calcification.
“This study, which is actually showing an improvement in endothelial function, has the potential to dramatically impact the way we view prevention when it comes to cardiovascular health,” Goodman adds. “Further clinical studies will be important to confirm these exciting findings.”
References:
1 Knapen MH et al, Braam LAJL, Drummen NE, Bekers O, Hoeks APG, Vermeer C. Menaquinone-7 supplementation improves arterial stiffness in healthy postmenopausal women: double-blind randomised clinical trial. Thrombosis and Haemostasis. 2015 113 5: 1135-1144.
2 Knapen MH, Drummen NE, Smit E,, Vermeer C, Theuwissen E. Three-year low-dose menaquinone-7 supplementation helps decrease bone loss in healthy postmenopausal women. Osteoporos Int. 2013 Sep;24(9):2499-507.
Clinical intervention trial with hemodialysis patients shows positive, safe response. A study[1] of hemodialysis patients examined the risk factors and response to Vitamin K2 supplementation, and confirmed this population’s specific need to correct Vitamin K2 deficiency. The study published in BMC Nephrology, and the vitamin K2 used in the study was MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 … Continue reading MenaQ7® K2 Study Publishes
Clinical intervention trial with hemodialysis patients shows positive, safe response.
A study[1] of hemodialysis patients examined the risk factors and response to Vitamin K2 supplementation, and confirmed this population’s specific need to correct Vitamin K2 deficiency. The study published in BMC Nephrology, and the vitamin K2 used in the study was MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 from ex-NattoPharma.
According to the researchers, the scientific data showed that the vitamin K2 intake in hemodialysis patients is estimated to be 40 percent lower than in the healthy individual group. It has been accepted by the European medical society that hemodialysis patients are vitamin K deficient, and they can benefit from vitamin K2 supplementation. However, this aspect had not yet been evaluated in Eastern Mediterranean populations.
“Ex-NattoPharma was excited to participate in this clinical intervention trial,” says Hogne Vik, chief medical officer of NattoPharma. “We have long recognized the important implications correcting a vitamin K2 deficiency can have on human health, particularly in patient populations who suffer intense vascular calcification as a result of their condition. This study adds to the body of evidence confirming the cardiovascular support MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 provides, and continues to solidify ex-NattoPharma as the global leader in K2 research and development.”
An improvement of vitamin K status in Eastern Mediterranean populations?
The study, based in Lebanon, assessed if there is a correlation between vitamin K status and vascular calcification score in hemodialysis patients, and if K2 supplementation would improve extra-hepatic vitamin K status in this Eastern Mediterranean populations.
Fifty hemodialysis patients were enrolled in this clinical study, and received daily 360 μg of menaquinone-7 (MenaQ7®) for 4 weeks. Extrahepatic vitamin K status represented as the level of dpucMGP (dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein, or “inactive” MGP, a K-dependent protein) and vascular calcification scores (AC-24) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the vitamin K2 treatment.
The main conclusion was that hemodialysis patients have profound vitamin K deficiency as assessed by high dp-ucMGP plasma levels. High dpucMGP level was significantly correlated with high aortic calcification scores and thus can be used as a non-invasive marker for vascular calcifications.
According to the researchers, “The daily administration of 360 μg of vitamin K2 (MK-7) decreased dpucMGP by 86 percent after 4 weeks and it was well tolerated. Further studies should be conducted to assess the change in vascular calcifications after an extended duration of therapy.”
Reference:
Aoun M et al. High Dephosphorylated-Uncarboxylated MGP in Hemodialysis patients: risk factors and response to vitamin K2, a pre-post intervention clinical trial. BMC Nephrol. 2017 Jun 7;18(1):191. doi: 10.1186/s12882-017-0609-3.
Vascular Diseases and Therapeutics publishes 1-year study confirming MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 supplementation improves vascular health. A new one-year clinical trial has just been published showing that a daily nutritional dose of MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 improved vascular health, adding to the substantial body of evidence confirming MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 is clinically … Continue reading MenaQ7 1-Year Cardio Study Publishes
Vascular Diseases and Therapeutics publishes 1-year study confirming MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 supplementation improves vascular health.
A new one-year clinical trial has just been published showing that a daily nutritional dose of MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 improved vascular health, adding to the substantial body of evidence confirming MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 is clinically validated to offer cardiovascular support.
According to the authors of “Effect of Menaquinone-7 (vitamin K2) on vascular elasticity in healthy subjects: results from a one-year study”, Matrix Gla-Protein (MGP) is involved in the prevention of arterial calcification. During vitamin K-insufficiency, MGP is produced in its inactive form: dp-ucMGP. Two 3-year intervention studies in the general population have shown that increased vitamin K intake may decrease arterial stiffening, but the difference with placebo became only significant in the third year of treatment. “In the present trial the researchers investigated whether in a pre-selected group of vitamin K-insufficient subjects (men and women) an effect of vitamin K-supplementation may be demonstrated within one year,” the authors wrote.
High effect on women with poor vitamin K
Completed by the expert researchers at VitaK, the placebo-controlled randomised clinical trial was performed in 243 subjects (40-70 years old) characterized by circulating dp-ucMGP concentrations above the median of the general population. Arterial stiffness was concluded from the carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity (cfPWV), and other vascular characteristics were measured by echotracking of the common carotid artery. Treatment was performed with either 180 µg/day of Vitamin K2 as MK-7 (as MenaQ7® from ex-NattoPharma) or placebo for one year.
In the total study group, MK-7 induced a significant decrease of both dp-ucMGP and cfPWV. The authors conclude: “High vitamin K intake decreased age-related vascular stiffening. The effects were most obvious in women with poor vitamin K status, and were statistically significant after one year of treatment.”
“This study continues to build the rock-solid argument that MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 – not K1 or other unstudied Vitamin K2 ingredients – delivers important cardiovascular support,” says Hogne Vik, ex-NattoPharma Chief Medical Officer. “In this study, the participants taking MenaQ7 maintained arterial flexibility and the stiffness did not increase, whereas placebo group became stiffer and less flexible.
Vik continues, “These results mirror what we have seen in epidemiological studies, where populations who consume a lot of dietary Vitamin K2 have healthier hearts and more flexible arteries, as well as our groundbreaking three-year study in healthy postmenopausal women. Vitamin K2 is indeed a vital cardiovascular support nutrient, and MenaQ7 is the only K2 as MK-7 clinically proven to do so.”
Reference:
Vermeer C and Vik H. Effect of Menaquinone-7 (vitamin K2) on vascular elasticity in healthy subjects: results from a one-year study. 2020 Vascul Dis Ther, 5: doi: 10.15761/VDT.1000179.
Make your Milk Powder as Proactive to Health as Your Consumers Are!
Consumers show a greater interest in functional products and ingredient claims than ever before, as they seek out products that offer a convenient health boost.
62% of consumers in Asia-Pacific identify “Overall Health” as the critical concern resulting from COVID-19.
Fortification is an opportunity for differentiation
Learn more about the most important vitamin consumers may never have heard of!
Adding vitamin K2 to milk powder ensures calcium is guided to building bone and diverted away from soft tissue
MenaQ7®️ K2 is clinically proven to support the needs of healthy bones in children.
Kids – Growing Strong Bones
Clinical research show children taking 45 mcg of MenaQ7® resulted in improved vitamin K status and stronger, denser bones. Milk powder as a delvery format represent an opportunity to mitigate deficency and to support children growing strong bones.
Supporting Bone Health in
Postmenopausal Women
Maintaining the best possible cardiovascular and bone health are two of the most critical areas allowing women to age in a healthy way.
MenaQ7® is the only Vitamin K2 clinically proven to protect bone strength and density in postmenopausal women.
MenaQ7® K2 is clinically proven to support bone and heart health in adults.
MenaQ7® K2 is clinically proven to support bone and heart health in adults.
Vitamin K2 is Key for Healthy Ageing
Being fearful for poor bone and cardiovascular health can be a hindrance for the growing population of senior citizens to engage in activities, travel, and exercise
Calcification is believed to be an unfortunate result of aging, but studies show that arterial calcification is, in fact, an actively regulated process.
MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 taken daily is not only shown to inhibit age-related arterial stiffening but improve vascular elasticity.
Knapen MHJ et al. Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 2015; 19;113(5).
The Only Clinically Proven K2 now available in milk powders!
Providing solutions to make Vitamin K2 available in a broader range of finished product dose forms is at the heart of the NattoPharma R&D team.
Vitamin K2 creates synergies for health and is the better together vitamin to supercharge other vital nutrients like vitamin D, Calcium and Omega3 to strengthen solid foundational health across all stages in life.
Adding MenaQ7® K2 to milk powders will ensure calcium is optimally trapped to the bone matrix and away from arteries where it can do harm.
Learn how K2 has Better Together Synergies with vitamin D for bone and cardiovascular health www.menaq7.com/bettertogether
You Have The Questions,
We Have The Answers
Is MenaQ7 compatible in milk powder?
MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 is now offered in a solution developed specifically for milk powder compatibility
- Stability protocol available
- No flavour or odour to interfere with the finished product
Are consumers interested in K2?
NattoPharma has educated the health supplement industry and has all the tools you need to tell the K2 story to consumers, we will show you how!
How do I know vitamin K2 will be bioavailable from dairy?
Study show drinkable yogurt fortified with MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 provided the same bioavailability as supplements.
What about safety and efficacy?
MenaQ7 is proven safe and efficacious in 20+ clinical trials.
Book a K2 Meeting in Your Calendar Today
Copyright Ⓒ 2015 MenaQ7. All Rights Reserved. MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 is a trademark of MattoPharma ASA.
Ex-NattoPharma-sponsored survey revealed consumers are actively pursuing healthier arteries through supplementation. Heart Health ranks as one of the top 3 reasons respondents use dietary supplements. At the request of ex-NattoPharma USA, Inc., Discover Research Group surveyed a total of 380 health- and nutrition-minded individuals regarding heart health in October 2015. The survey focused on answering … Continue reading Consumer Survey Shows Interest in Supplements for Artery Health
Ex-NattoPharma-sponsored survey revealed consumers are actively pursuing healthier arteries through supplementation.
Heart Health ranks as one of the top 3 reasons respondents use dietary supplements.
At the request of ex-NattoPharma USA, Inc., Discover Research Group surveyed a total of 380 health- and nutrition-minded individuals regarding heart health in October 2015. The survey focused on answering three primary questions:
1. How concerned are people with the health of their heart?
2. Do they believe that hard arteries are a problem that is associated with poor heart health?
3. How willing would they be to take a supplement to improve the health of their heart by preventing (and even reversing) the hardening of their arteries?
Key Findings: Of the 380 individuals surveyed:
• 87% currently take vitamins or supplements to improve their health.
• 25% identify themselves as having a condition associated with heart disease; 40% have someone in their immediate family with a condition associated with heart disease.
• 35% are very concerned that hardening of the arteries will have a negative impact on their heart health.
• 67% of those surveyed (n = 380) would take a supplement shown to stop hardening of the arteries if the supplement carried no side effects and is priced about the same as other heart health supplements.
Bone and Heart Health are the top reasons customers supplement (reason 2 and 3, respectively). When asked how concerned they were about their heart health on a scale of 1-7, 62% rated their level of concern as 5 or greater (38% rated their level of concern 6 or greater).
Of those who indicated that they or their family member currently has a heart condition (n=232),
• 84% are currently taking a prescription medicine (55% would consider taking a prescription)
• 44% are currently taking a supplement (59% would consider taking a supplement)
Of those who indicated that they currently do not have a heart condition (n=148), for those surveyed between 30 and 40 years old, supplements would be their No. 1 action if they developed heart disease.
“Just over one-third of survey participants ranked ‘hardening of the arteries’ as one of the top 3 risk factors associated with heart disease. This is a concern with growing awareness with Americans, but a natural solution to address this concern was not previously available,” said Eric Anderson, senior vice president of global sales and marketing with ex-NattoPharma, exclusive global supplier of MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7. “However, our clinical trials have shown that MenaQ7 addresses 2 of the top 3 reasons that health-minded consumers supplement: MenaQ7 not only protects against age-related hardening of the arteries and regressed arterial stiffening, but it also has been shown to improve bone mineral density and strength.”