Uncarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) is important in evaluating vitamin K status and it is inversely associated with bone mineral density (BMD). We studied the correlationship between ucOC and BMD in healthy Korean women. This study recruited 337 healthy women between ages 20-70 were recruited. Serum ucOC, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, body mass index (BMI), and BMD were measured and compared. Me...

Low phylloquinone (vitamin K1) intakes have been associated with low bone mineral density in older adults. Phylloquinone intakes and serum undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) levels were assessed in ninety-seven apparently healthy, free-living Irish women aged 50-75 years. Phylloquinone intakes were estimated using a detailed dietary history, which measured habitual food intakes from a typical...

A case of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), which was successfully treated with alendronate is reported. A 41-year-old premenopausal woman with OI type I, who had frequently been experiencing fragile fractures, consulted our clinic because of back pain associated with spinal osteoporosis. She had experienced heart surgery (aortic valve replacement) due to aortic regurgitation 5 years before her fir...

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are at high risk for vitamin K deficiency. The effects of vitamin K supplementation are very ambiguous. Therefore, we aimed to define the determinants of vitamin K deficiency in a large cohort of supplemented - 146 (86.9%) and non-supplemented - 22 (13.1%) CF patients. Vitamin K status was assessed using prothrombin inducted by vitamin K absence (PIVKA-II) and unde...

Among women, the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is considered a form of metabolic syndrome with reproductive abnormalities. Women with PCOS show increased sympathetic tone, visceral adiposity with enlarged adipocytes, hypoadiponectinemia, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, increased inactive osteocalcin, and hypertension. Excess fetal exposure to androgens has been hypothesized to pla...

Analysis of blood serum enzymesis an important and routine diagnostic tool commonly used to assess the well-being and metabolic status of racing camels. Unfortunately there are no well defined gender-specific published reference ranges for serum enzymes for healthy, lame and fractured camels. In this study, we report baseline reference range values for Glucose, Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Aspar...

The endocrine role of the skeleton in regulating energy metabolism is supported by a feed-forward loop between circulating osteoblast (OB)-derived undercarboxylated osteocalcin (Glu-OCN) and pancreatic β-cell insulin; in turn, insulin favors osteocalcin (OCN) bioactivity. These data suggest the existence of a negative regulation of this cross talk between OCN and insulin. Recently, we identifie...

Although systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have concluded that vitamin K is effective in preventing fractures, the effect of vitamin K on the skeleton remains a matter of controversy. The objective of the present review of the literature was to evaluate the effect of vitamin K supplementation on the skeleton of postmenopausal women. PubMed was used to se...

The development of vascular calcification is an active, highly regulated process with similarities to bone formation. Osteocalcin (OC), a vitamin K-dependent protein expressed by osteoblasts, contains 3  -carboxyglutamic acid residues derived from the vitamin K-dependent posttranslational modification of glutamic acid residues. Circulating undercarboxylated OC (ucOC) is increased in vitamin K ...