[Renal osteodystrophy and vitamin K. Vitamin K and dialysis]

Those who have already suffered from bone fractures have been found to have lower serum vitamin K (VK) concentrations than age-matched controls. Also in dialysis patients, serum VK(1) concentration are reported to be significantly lower in patients with previous fractures compared to those without. In most studies, there are no significant changes in the serum Ca, P, and intact PTH levels during the VK administration in dialysis patients. Investigation of the changes in metabolic bone markers, such as bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) , during the VK therapy has yielded various results. Although the reason for these discrepancy is not well understood, it may be attributed to the differences in clinical features, including parathyroid function of the patients and to the differences in VK administered.