Adulthood Obesity Is Positively Associated with Adipose Tissue Concentrations of Vitamin K and Inversely Associated with Circulating Indicators of Vitamin K Status in Men and Women, ,

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Abstract

Increased adiposity is associated with increased storage of several fat-soluble nutrients. However, the extent to which vitamin K is stored in fat and the association between vitamin K status and adiposity are unknown. Our objectives in this study were to determine whether vitamin K is stored in human adipose tissue and the association between vitamin K status and body fat in older men and women. In study A, the vitamin K concentration of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue was quantified in samples taken from 16 gastric bypass patients [13 women, 3 men, age 40 ± 10 y (mean ± SD)] using HPLC. In study B, cross-sectional associations between percent body fat (%BF) and circulating measures of vitamin K status were examined in 260 women and 183 men [age = 68 ± 5 y]. The phylloquinone (K1) concentrations in subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue were 148.2 ± 71.8 and 175 ± 112 nmol/kg, respectively, which is higher than the reported concentrations of other organs known to store vitamin K. There was an inverse association between %BF and plasma K1 in women (P-trend < 0.001). Higher %BF was associated with greater circulating concentrations of uncarboxylated prothrombin, indicative of lower hepatic utilization of vitamin K in both men (P-trend = 0.02) and women (P-trend = 0.002) but not with the percentage of undercarboxylated osteocalcin. Adipose tissue contained high concentrations of vitamin K, and increased adiposity was associated with poorer vitamin K status in older adults. Additional studies are needed to further explore the relationships among body fat, storage of vitamin K in adipose tissue, and implications for vitamin K status and function.

Abbreviations used:

%BF
percent body fat
DK1
dihydrophylloquinone
HSD
honestly significant difference
MK-4
menaquinone-4
PIVKA-II
protein induced in vitamin K absence factor-II
K1
phylloquinone
ucOC
uncarboxylated osteocalcin
%ucOC
percent uncarboxylated osteocalcin
Unstd β
unstandardized β-coefficient

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1

Supported by the USDA Agricultural Research Service under Cooperative Agreement no. 58-1950-7-707 and by the NIH (AG14759, HL69272, AR47869, P30AG21332). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the USDA.

2

Author disclosures: M. K. Shea, S. L. Booth, C. M. Gundberg, J. W. Peterson, C. Waddell, B. Dawson-Hughes, and E. Saltzman, no conflicts of interest.

3

Study B was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00183001.