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Dietary Vitamin K and Association with Hepatic Vitamin K Status in a Yup'ik Study Population from Southwestern Alaska
Nicholas T Au1, Tove Ryman2, Allan E Rettie1
1Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Scope:
The relationship between dietary vitamin K and plasma PIVKA-II concentration, a biomarker of hepatic vitamin K status, in a Yup'ik study population in southwestern Alaska is investigated.
Methods And Results:
A total of 659 male and female, self-reported Yup'ik people, ≥14 years of age, were enrolled. Blood is collected for genotyping and plasma PIVKA-II biomarker analysis. A Yup'ik-specific dietary food frequency questionnaire is used to assess vitamin K intake. Among the participants, 22% report not consuming foods rich in vitamin K during the past year and 36% have a PIVKA-II concentration ≥ 2 ng mL-1 , indicating vitamin K insufficiency. The odds of an elevated PIVKA-II concentration are 33% lower in individuals reporting any versus no consumption of vitamin-K-rich foods. The association is significant after adjusting for CYP4F2*3 genotype. Tundra greens are high in vitamin K1 content, but an exploratory analysis suggests that subsistence meat sources have a greater effect on vitamin K status.
Conclusions:
A substantial proportion of the Yup'ik population exhibits vitamin K insufficiency, which is associated with low consumption of vitamin K rich foods and which might affect an individual's response to anticoagulant drugs such as warfarin that target the vitamin K cycle.
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