title: Vitamin K (menaquinone-4) metabolism in liver disease.
abstract: We measured menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and MK-4 epoxide concentrations in plasma and liver tissue after intravenous injection of 200 micrograms/kg MK-4 in 42 patients who underwent hepatectomy. They were classified into normal (N; n = 10), chronic hepatitis (CH; n = 12), and liver cirrhosis (LC; n = 20) groups, on the basis of the diagnosis given by the pathologist after examining resected liver specimens. The plasma MK-4 epoxide concentration reached maximum level (Cmax) 60 min after MK-4 injection. The Cmax in groups LC and CH were 85.9 and 126.3 nmol/l, respectively, which is significantly reduced compared with that of group N (184.4 nmol/l) (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.05, respectively). The MK-4 concentrations in liver tissues of 24 patients 60 min after MK-4 injection were 2.77 in group N, 3.79 in group CH, and 3.83 nmol/g in group LC, and the MK-4 epoxide concentrations were 4.01, 3.09, and 2.62 nmol/g in the respective groups. Consequently, the ratio of MK-4 epoxide to total MK-4 (MK-4 + MK-4 epoxide) in groups CH and LC was significantly lower than in group N (p less than 0.01). It is concluded that the Cmax of MK-4 epoxide after MK-4 injection may serve as an indicator of liver function and that the low ratio of MK-4 epoxide to total MK-4 in the liver shows impairment in vitamin K metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Second Dept. of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okanoue
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ozawa
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014812:Vitamin K / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D024482:Vitamin K 2 / Q000031:analogs & derivatives
chemical_list: D024482:Vitamin K 2; D014812:Vitamin K; C030814:menatetrenone