A reduced form of vitamin K can prevent cellular degradation, experts flag

04 Aug 2022 --- Researchers have discovered that vitamin K hydroquinone, a reduced form of vitamin K, can prevent a type of natural cell death called ferroptosis. The findings may open new pathways in treating disease and illness, flags the study.

Vitamin K, long touted for its ability to strengthen bones and aid in blood clotting, may now be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular diseases, organ injuries and several other illnesses, according to a new study from the Helmholtz Munich research center in Germany.

Researchers at Tohoku University in Japan, the Technical University of Dresden in Germany and the University of Ottawa in Canada, also helped on the study.

“Surprisingly, we identified that vitamin K, including phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinone-4 (vitamin K2), is able to efficiently rescue cells and tissues from undergoing ferroptosis,” explains Dr. Eikan Mishima, a researcher and the study’s primary author.

The missing key
In 2019, another of the study’s primary researchers, Dr. Marcus Conrad, discovered ferroptosis suppressor protein-1 (FSP1). This enzyme strongly inhibits cellular ferroptosis, a type of cell death caused by iron and cellular oxidation.The researchers say they may have solved the final riddle in vitamin K metabolism and blood clotting.

 The researchers further found that FSP1 was the “warfarin-insensitive enzyme” that could produce vitamin K hydroquinone which they postulated for half a century yet is only now proven.

“The reduced forms of Vitamin K and coenzyme Q10 are not very stable, so our finding that FSP1 can maintain them in their active (reduced) state is key to understanding how they are able to function to maintain cell viability,” Derek Pratt, co-author and researcher at the University of Ottawa confirms.

The final frontier
The researchers hold that these findings represent “the last riddle” in how humans have evolved to metabolize vitamin K in blood clotting and may be used to prevent “overdosing” on the anticoagulant warfarin. It also explains that this may mean vitamin K is one of the oldest natural antioxidants.

“Our results, therefore, link the two worlds of ferroptosis research and vitamin K biology. They will serve as the stepping stone for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for diseases where ferroptosis has been implicated,” highlights Conrad. 

“Thus, new aspects of the role of vitamin K throughout the evolution of life are expected to be unveiled,” he concludes.

Edited by William Bradford Nichols