Project Number: 1950-51000-057-04
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 01, 2006
End Date: Sep 30, 2011

Objective:
LAB:Vitamin K Identify and measure the amounts of individual dietary forms of vitamin K in key foods and estimate their relative contribution to total dietary vitamin K intake. Define endogenous and exogenous factors affecting bioavailability of phylloquinone, develop stable isotope measurement techniques and determine of age, lipid profile and current vitamin k nutritional status influence the absorption and transport of phylloquinone in younger and older women. Determine the impact of vitamin K supplementation, in an amount that is expected to be nutritionally optimal and safe, on bone, joint and vascular health in elderly men and women.

Approach:
LAB:Vitamin K This project will identify the distribution of vitamin K in the food supply, and evaluate dietary and non-dietary determinants of the bioavailability of vitamin K from these foods. Specifically, stable isotopes will be used in metabolic studies to compare the absorption and transport of vitamin K from a green vegetable in a vitamin K-deplete state vs. a vitamin K-replete state. The impact of vitamin K supplementation on changes in bone density and vascular calcification will be examined in clinical trials with elderly men and women. Vitamin K food composition data generated from food analysis will be incorporated into the national nutrient databases for the purpose of menu design, dietary assessment and national intake surveys. Information will be collected on the physiological significance of the measures currently used to assess vitamin K nutritional status and the impact of vitamin K supplementation on bone and vascular health.