Objective: In women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, vitamin K2 appears to decrease the incidence of hip, vertebral, and non-vertebral fractures. Women with postmenopausal osteoporosis have more circulating activated T cells compared with healthy postmenopausal and premenopausal women, but the effects of vitamin K2 on T cells have not been studied. In this study, we have looked at T-cell suppression by vitamin K2.
Materials and methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from three healthy donors were used. The PBMCs were stimulated with the mitogens phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A, and T-cell proliferation was analyzed using flow cytometry based on carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CSFE) dye dilution.
Results: Vitamin K2 (60 and 100 μM) inhibited T-cell proliferation. Vitamin K1 at the same concentrations did not inhibit T-cell proliferation.
Conclusion: Vitamin K2 has immunomodulatory activities.
Keywords: T cells; immunomodulation; osteoporosis; vitamin k2.
Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.