Vitamin K reduces calcification (reported yet again) – Feb 2019

Association of the Inactive Circulating Matrix Gla Protein with Vitamin K Intake, Calcification, Mortality, and Cardiovascular Disease: A Review

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(3), 628; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20030628

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Stefanos Roumeliotis 1, Evangelia Dounousi 2, Theodoros Eleftheriadis 1 and Vassilios Liakopoulos 1,*

• 1 Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, 1st Department of Internal Medicine, AHEPA Hospital, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece
• 2 Department of Nephrology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece

Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), a small Gla vitamin K-dependent protein, is the most powerful natural occurring inhibitor of calcification in the human body. To become biologically active, MGP must undergo vitamin K-dependent carboxylation and phosphorylation. Vitamin K deficiency leads to the inactive uncarboxylated, dephosphorylated form of MGP (dpucMGP). We aimed to review the existing data on the association between circulating dpucMGP and vascular calcification, renal function, mortality, and cardiovascular disease in distinct populations. Moreover, the association between vitamin K supplementation and serum levels of dpucMGP was also reviewed.