Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : August 4, 2022 10:59 AM IST
You may be aware of the roles that Vitamin K plays in our body, such as blood clotting, wound healing, and building bones. This nutrient does more than what we thought before. Researchers have discovered a novel function of Vitamin. It prevents ferroptotic cell death.
This novel function of Vitamin K was discovered by a research team led by Dr. Eikan Mishima and Dr. Marcus Conrad, both from the Institute of Metabolism and Cell Death at Helmholtz Munich.
According to the researchers, the fully reduced form of Vitamin K (which is vitamin K hydroquinone) acts as a strong lipophilic antioxidant and prevents cell death due to ferroptosis (cell death resulting from the oxidative destruction of cellular membranes). It does so by trapping oxygen radicals in lipid bilayers. Additionally, the researchers have confirmed that ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 (FSP1) is the enzyme that efficiently reduces vitamin K to vitamin K hydroquinone. This enzyme is also found to be responsible for the vitamin K-reduction pathway insensitive against warfarin, one of the most prescribed anticoagulants. The postulated roles of FSP1 had been the subject of debate for more than half a century.
Ferroptosis is associated with many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and acute organ injuries. Hence, the study findings suggested that vitamin K treatment might be an effective way to deal with these ferroptosis-related diseases. Ferroptosis prevention is also touted as a highly promising therapeutic approach for many degenerative diseases.
Elaborating on their discovery, Dr. Mishima, who is the first author of the study, said that vitamin K, including phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinone-4 (vitamin K2), can prevent cells and tissues from undergoing ferroptosis.
The identity of FSP1's role in vitamin K metabolism also explains why vitamin K constitutes the antidote for overdosing of warfarin, the researchers pointed out.
For the study, Helmholtz Munich collaborated with Tohoku University (Japan), University of Ottawa (Canada) and Technical University of Dresden (Germany).
Since we know the benefits of Vitamin K, let's talk about how you can boost the intake of this nutrient in your diet. Simply, you can add more Vitamin K-rich foods to your diet. Green leafy vegetables including kale, collard greens, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, Brussel Sprouts and lettuce, are excellent sources of Vitamin K.
Other rich sources of vitamin K include fish, eggs, kiwi, grapes, Blackberries, etc.
