The effect of vitamin K1 supplemention for 12 months on bone mineral density and indices of vitamin K status and bone turnover in adult Crohn s disease patients

Adult patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), even those in remission, have been shown to have higher circulating under-g-carboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) concentrations, a sensitive marker of vitamin K nutritional status(1), compared to age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects(2,3). Increased concentrations of ucOC in CD patients in these studies appear to be positively and negatively associated with the rate of bone turnover(3) and bone mineral density (BMD) at some sites(2), respectively. The aim of our study was to investigate whether supplementation with vitamin K1 (1000 mg/d) for 12 months had a positive effect on the rate of bone turnover and BMD in CD patients. We have previously shown that this level of supplementation maximally suppresses the degree of ucOC in CD patients(4).