In a new study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Booth et al. investigated a group of elderly men and women in order to determine the importance of vitamin K, along with several other osteoporosis-related factors, in the incidence of hip fracture. The study showed that those with the highest reported consumption of vitamin K had the lowest incidence of hip fracture. However, vitamin K consumption did not correlate with changes in bone mineral density and was not associated with another potential risk factor, the apo-E genotype. In previous studies the apo-E4 allele has been associated with low bone mineral density and bone fracture, which has been attributed to a modulation of the vitamin K transport.

The 342 men and 558 women participants were cohorts in the much larger Framingham Heart Study, and averaged 75 years of age at the beginning of the study. A significant association was found between the subjects' reported intake of vitamin K and their incidence of hip fracture over a 7-year period. Those in the lowest quartile of vitamin K consumption had roughly twice the rate of hip fracture of those in the highest quartile of consumption. No associations were found between vitamin K and bone mineral density, or the presence of the apo-E genotype.

Booth S L et al. Dietary vitamin K intakes are associated with hip fractures but not with bone mineral density in elderly men and women. Am J Clin Nut 2000;71:1201-1208.

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