Evaluating the influence of vitamin K supplementation on bone markers in hemodialysis patients

This study aimed to assess the impact of vitamin K supplementation on bone factors in hemodialysis patients.

In this randomized clinical trial, 80 patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis, aged over 18 years, and who had been on chronic dialysis for at least 1 month without taking warfarin, underwent blood tests for bone factors. Subsequently, patients were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group using block randomization. The effects of vitamin K on bone activity markers were evaluated in both groups. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS-24 after encoding and entry.

The study comprised 41 patients in the treatment group and 39 in the control group. The average age was 53.17 ± 9.88 years in the treatment group and 54.61 ± 10.71 years in the control group. There was a significant difference in the mean albumin levels post-supplementation between the treatment (4.62 ± 0.47) and control groups (4.78 ± 0.51) (P = 0.024). Additionally, significant differences were noted in the serum levels of all bone markers (albumin, calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and vitamin D) before and after treatment across different age groups under 40, 40-60 years, and over 60 years (P = 0.001).

The findings of this study indicate that supplementation with vitamin K, along with vitamin D and calcium, could lead to the fortification of bone tissue and mineralization, subsequently reducing the occurrence of fractures in dialysis patients.