Posted on 05/20/2023 6:45:02 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Canadian researchers have identified a new role for vitamin K and gamma-carboxylation in beta cells and their potentially protective role in diabetes.
The study explains, at least in part, how vitamin K helps prevent diabetes, and could lead to new therapeutic applications for type 2 diabetes.
Vitamin K is a micronutrient known for its role in blood clotting, in particular in gamma-carboxylation, an enzymatic reaction essential to the process. It has been suspected for several years that this vitamin, and thus gamma-carboxylation, may have other functions as well.
Several studies suggest a link between a reduced intake of vitamin K and an increased risk of diabetes.
In their study, Mathieu Ferron and his team were first able to determine that the enzymes involved in gamma-carboxylation and therefore in the use of vitamin K were present in large quantities in pancreatic beta cells, the very cells that produce the precious insulin that controls blood sugar levels.
"Diabetes is known to be caused by a reduction in the number of beta cells or by their inability to produce enough insulin, hence our keen interest in this novel finding," said Ferron, a leading researcher in molecular biology. "In order to elucidate the cellular mechanism by which vitamin K maintains beta cell function, it was essential to determine which protein was targeted by gamma-carboxylation in these cells."
"We were able to identify a new gamma-carboxylated protein called ERGP," added Julie Lacombe, who conducted the work in Ferron's laboratory. "Our study shows that this protein plays an important role in maintaining physiological levels of calcium in beta cells in order to prevent a disturbance of insulin secretion. Finally, we show that vitamin K through gamma-carboxylation is essential for ERGP to perform its role."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
My brother is scheduled for TAVR surgery Tuesday; this came completely out of the blue.
Regarding K, I wonder if it would have helped prevent the calcification / stenosis of the original valve.
Eat your spinach
I have Non-diabetic hypoglycemia, and have battled this my entire life. Apparently my body makes too much insulin. The standard treatment for low blood sugar (glass of orange juice or a piece of candy) does not work for me. It does raise the blood sugar, but then in an hour will cause body to produce a huge bunch of insulin that shoots the blood sugar even lower and causes me to pass out. I have learned to control it with diet. I rarely eat sugar and keep carbs to a minimum of carbs found in fruit and vegetables (sort of those in a paleo type diet). Early morning is a crucial time and I need mainly protein then. Doctors don’t seem to be able to offer any helpful advice about this condition and I have had to rely mainly on my own research.
My question is…… would the vitamin K be helpful or would it just cause me to create even higher levels of insulin?
My surgery was done in 1990 and it was a blown mitral valve. It was replaced with a mechanical Omniscience valve which required me to be on warfarin and lessen the intake of Vitamin K.
33 three years and still clicking.
I don’t know where they get their facts. Vit A is in UI’s. At 2,000 UI’s mine still reads low. My D3 is 3,000 UIs. It is Not a Micronutrient, it is a full-Fat Vitamin like D is, not a water-solvable Vitamin. Selenium at 200 mcg is a very important one is a Micronutrient.
Maybe they need to READ Earl Mendell’s Vitamin Bible. He breaks every one down.
These sound promising, for conditions that sound similar to yours:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-therapy-approach-hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemia.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-insulin-dangerous.html
Oil Vitamins like A, E, and D3 are described in International Units (IU), NOT as UI. Recently this has been confused by also describing in mg. or related measures. I am looking at my Vitamin E bottle of 400 IU, which also now in bigger bold print reads “E-268 mg”. Vitamin D3 will now read 125 ? = 5000 IU, or 25 ? = 1000 IU. The question mark is because I don’t remember which form of grams it might be (smaller than mg, maybe micrograms) but I am too lazy on a Sunday to go find a bottle.
Regarding Vitamin K, the article does not say if it is K or K2 which I have read have quite different finctions. Here I also see mention of MK4 and MK7, and the suggestion they stay available for different periods pf time. So which K does the article recommend to help pancreas, do the authors even tell us? Guess I’ll have to stop being lazy and read the whole article.
Good for you!
The article wasn’t clear if this is K-1 or K-2, though it seems that if carboxylation is involved then it is K-1. The K-2 varieties have more to do with where calcium gets deposited in one’s body.
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