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vitamin K
(redirected from vitamin K2)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.

vitamin K

Any of several fat-soluble compounds essential for the clotting of blood. A deficiency of vitamin K in the body leads to an increase in clotting time. In 1929 a previously unrecognized fat-soluble substance present in green leafy vegetables was found to be required for coagulation of the blood; its letter name comes from the Danish word koagulation. A pure form was isolated and analyzed structurally in 1939; several related compounds having vitamin-K activity have since been isolated and synthesized. The form of vitamin K that is important in mammalian tissue is of microbial origin. A synthetic vitamin K precursor called menadione is used as a vitamin supplement.


vitamin K [′vīd·ə·mən ¦kā]
(biochemistry)
Any of three yellowish oils which are fat-soluble, nonsteroid, and nonsaponifiable; it is essential for formation of prothrombin. Also known as antihemorrhagic vitamin; prothrombin factor.


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The company has verified that menaquinone-7 (MK-7), a kind of vitamin K2 derived from natto, has a higher nutritional value than menquinone-4 (MK-4), which is commonly used as a food additive.
Vitamin K2 however is more effective than vitamin K1 with respect to osteoclastogenesis likewise hypocholesterolemic effects and the ability to slow atherosclerotic progression have only been observed with vitamin K2.
at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, found supplemental vitamin K2 extracted from fermented natto soyfood superior to ordinary vitamin K1 supplements in the levels of K absorbed into the bloodstream, as well as reducing several risk factors for osteoporosis.
 
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