Guarding their hearts: Gnosis by Lesaffre’s MK-7 fights leading cause of premature death in women

09 Jun 2023 --- New research shows that women are at a greater risk of developing heart disease than previously thought. However, according to several company-driven clinical trials, supplementing with Gnosis by Lesaffre’s MenaQ7 vitamin K2 – on the market as MK-7 – can protect and support cardiovascular function and promote greater heart health in women. 

The company highlights that reproductive and menopause factors are linked to developing adverse conditions, noting that a recent observational study linked higher risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in women to earlier first birth, a higher number of births and first menstruation at a younger age.

“In our three-year cardiovascular study in healthy postmenopausal women and our one-year study of healthy men and postmenopausal women, daily supplementation with 180 mcg of MenaQ7 vitamin K2 as MK-7 was found to protect cardiovascular function in women,” Kate Quackenbush, communications director for Gnosis by Lesaffre, tells NutritionInsight. 

High vitamin K intake decreased age-related vascular stiffening. The effects were most obvious in women with poor vitamin K status and were statistically significant after one year of treatment.

Impact of menopause on heart health 
Although the studies on cardiovascular risks in women were not MenaQ7-specific, Quackenbush explains that the product can help overcome issues identified in the research. 

Gnosis by Lesaffre’s clinical trial research illustrated that “activating the K-dependent protein Matrix Gla Protein (MGP) led to improved arterial stiffness in the supplement groups.” 

“The Circulation research highlighted that women transitioning through menopause experience ‘their arteries become more vulnerable to disease, getting thicker and stiffer.’”

Daily supplementation with 180 mcg of MenaQ7 vitamin K2 was found to protect cardiovascular function in women in clinical trials.The study’s authors state that their findings “underline the significance of menopause transition as a time of accelerating CVD risk, thereby emphasizing the importance of monitoring women’s health during midlife, a critical window for implementing early intervention strategies to reduce CVD risk.” 

They explain that longitudinal studies of women transitioning through menopause have documented distinct patterns of changes in hormones and body fat distribution, lipids and lipoproteins and structural and functional measures of vascular health over the menopause transition. 

Reproductive factors 
The observational research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association reveals an association between the genes that predict reproductive factors and the risk of multiple CVDs through a Mendelian Randomization technique.

These reproductive factors increase women’s risk of atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, heart failure and strokes. 

“Many of the previous studies on CVD have focused on men, but our research shows that there are sex-specific factors that influence the risk for women,” explains the study’s senior author Dr. Fu Siong Ng. 

“Women are often mischaracterized as being at low risk for CVD, leading to delays in diagnosis. Even when diagnosed, they tend to receive less targeted treatment than men,” adds lead author Dr. Maddalena Ardissino of the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College, London.

The American Heart Association notes that the study’s results stress the importance of routinely evaluating female-specific risk factors in risk stratification. 

The organization further states that “close monitoring and early modification of cardiometabolic factors is a key strategy that will at least partly mitigate the increased CVD risk conferred by these reproductive factors.” 

Cardiovascular risks for women 
The World Heart Federation states CVD is the leading cause of death in women worldwide. CVD causes one in three deaths in women. 

The American Heart Association warned in 2022 that women remain underrepresented in heart disease research, calling for changes in how women’s heart health is examined, taught and treated. 

The World Heart Federation states cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women worldwide.“The two studies referenced identified increased cardiovascular risks for women as they enter their reproductive years and menopause,” adds Quackenbush. 

“What was once thought of as a man’s disease, one of the study authors noted that women are often mischaracterized as being at low risk for CVD, leading to delays in diagnosis.” 

Bone health in adults and children 
Quackenbush explains that in the three-year cardiovascular study of Gnosis by Lesaffre, researchers also took bone measurements on the participating postmenopausal women who took 180 mcg daily of MenaQ7. 

“The study showed significantly decreased circulating uncarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC), a well-established biomarker for bone and vitamin K status. After three years, bone mineral content, density and bone strength were statistically significantly better for the MenaQ7 group than the placebo group.”

Moreover, she notes that a study in the British Journal of Nutrition “revealed that daily supplementation with 45-50 mcg of Vitamin K2 as MK-7 (as MenaQ7) may support bone needs from early childhood through the lifespan.” 

“Monitoring healthy children between six and ten years of age taking 45-50 mcg of MenaQ7 for two years improved vitamin K status and stronger, denser bones.” 

Future product development 
Gnosis by Lesaffre acquired NattoPharma and MenaQ7 vitamin K2 as MK-7 in late 2021, says Quackenbush. 

“The human clinical trials where MenaQ7 was the source material – 22 with more currently underway – created the vitamin K2 category and our understanding of K2 as we know it today.” 

“Beyond the traditional supplement delivery methods such as tablets and softgels, Gnosis continues to work to make MenaQ7 accessible via liquid, ready-to-drink powder, gummy, soft chew and dairy applications.” 

After proving bone and cardiovascular benefits, Quackenbush highlights that early research has linked the K2 mechanism – specifically the activation of Matrix Gla Protein – to other areas, “such as brain health or cognition, metabolic health, inflammation and immune response, sports nutrition and skin health.” 

“Further, as there are 17 K-dependent proteins in the body, we are gearing up to gain a clearer understanding of the wide-ranging health effects that can be experienced once vitamin K2 activates those.”

By Jolanda van Hal