Vitamin K Therapy for Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Research suggests that vitamin K may have therapeutic effects for people with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). MDS are blood and bone marrow diseases in which the body does not make enough healthy immature blood stem cells to develop into mature blood cells:^(58-60)

Figure 1: Bone Marrow Stem Cells and Blood Cells

The lymphoblasts and myeloblasts that are made are either dysfunctional or die quickly. MDS can lead to:⁽⁵⁸⁾

• Anemia
• Bleeding
• Infection
• Leukemia

Each syndrome is also characterized by the specific abnormality and type of insufficient blood cells. Depending on the type, MDS patients are at increased risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia.⁽⁵⁸⁾

In a clinical trial, vitamin K2 by itself and in combination with vitamin D3 was given to patients with MDS. All of the patients had types of MDS classified as low or intermediate risk of developing leukemia.⁽⁶⁰⁾

Five of the 38 patients given 45mg/day of vitamin K2 alone for 16 weeks showed improvement in anemia and/or low platelet count. Twenty of the patients that did not respond were given a combination of vitamin K2 (45 mg/day) and D3 (0.75 µg/day).⁽⁶⁰⁾

After 16 weeks of the combination therapy, 30% showed improvements in anemia and platelet counts. These results suggest that a combination of vitamin K2 and vitamin D3 may be a promising treatment option for low and medium risk MDS patients.⁽⁶⁰⁾