Tissue concentrations of Menaquinone-4 (Vitamin K2 MK-4)

[Belsazar]

Have you ever asked yourself why MK7 has a higher serum half life than MK4? It was often mentioned on the forum that MK4 is directly distributed to tissue. - But which tissue actually?


Have a look at Table 1. (Conversion of Phylloquinone (Vitamin K1) into Menaquinone-4 (Vitamin K2) in Mice)
Or as a more visual representation Slide 4 of the following presentation:

https://d2cax41o7ahm5l.cloudfront.net/cs/speaker-pdfs/toshio-okano-kobe-pharmaceutical-university-japan-363237450.pdf

The highest concentration was actually found ... in the thyroid gland (of mice fed a "normal diet").

Interestingly,
MK-4 is found in most tissues. In general, tissue concentrations
of MK-4 exceed those of PK except for liver, where relatively
low MK-4 levels are found. Exocrine organs, such as the pan-
creas and the salivary gland, contain large amounts of MK-4.
The brain also contains high MK-4 concentrations. Similar pat-
terns of the tissue-specific distribution of vitamin K are
observed in animals and humans (15, 16).

All credits go to: Re: Flaws in Thyroid disease assessment and management: summary of NICE guidance

 

[Pistachio]

Interesting. What's your concluding analysis of this information though?

 

[Belsazar]

It raises more questions, what exactly is it doing in those organs? Something that would need to be read about and discussed in more detail on the forum. It is a co-factor in carboxylation of certain proteins, right? So whats the effect of those carboxylated proteins in those specific tissues - especially in peat-land - the thyroid. Most recent focus is on bone metabolism or arterial calcification. But there is much more, even wikipedia says some Gla-proteins haven`t been fully studied yet.