Effects of vitamin K2 in hemodialysis patients with low serum parathyroid hormone levels

In patients with adynamic bone disease, the bone contains few osteoblasts or osteoclasts and bone turnover is slow, so the risk of fracture is increased. The decrease of bone remodeling may also decrease the capacity of bone to buffer calcium, leading to an increase of the calcium × phosphate product and an increased risk of arterial calcification. Such findings emphasize that an effective treatment for adynamic bone disease is required. The present study investigated the influence of vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) on hemodialysis patients with low serum parathyroid hormone levels by using bone metabolism markers. The subjects were 32 hemodialysis patients (19 men and 13 women) aged from 27 to 76 years with an intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) level of less than 65 pg/ml and an intact osteocalcin level below 20 ng/ml. All patients received oral menatetrenone therapy (45 mg/day) for 12 months. To obtain control data on bone metabolism markers in hemodialysis patients with normal bone turnover, we selected 50 patients who had intact PTH levels within the range that maintains relatively normal bone turnover, that is, from 120 to 250 pg/ml. The baseline levels of all bone metabolism markers were significantly lower in our patients than in the normal PTH control group. There was a significant increase of γ-carboxyglutamate (Gla) osteocalcin, bone alkaline phosphatase (B-ALP), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP), and cross-linked N-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (NTx) levels after vitamin K2 administration. Type 1 procollagen carboxyterminal propeptide (P1CP) and intact osteocalcin both showed a significant increase after 12 months of treatment. Although there was no significant change of the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level during the 12 months before the start of vitamin K2 therapy, there was a significant increase of alkaline phosphatase after vitamin K2 administration. Adjusted calcium, serum phosphate, and intact PTH showed no significant changes throughout the study. These changes of bone metabolism markers suggested that vitamin K2 therapy can improve bone remodeling in hemodialysis patients with low serum PTH levels.