Vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7 may help to promote healthy blood pressure in postmenopausal women, according to a post-hoc analysis of a 2020 clinical study evaluating the cardiovascular benefits of MenaQ7, a vitamin K2 ingredient by Gnosis by Lesaffre.

The analysis, “Effects of one-year menaquinone-7 supplementation on vascular stiffness and blood pressure in post-menopausal women,” found new insights, with the focus exclusively on postmenopausal female participants of the original study.

“Estrogen begins to decline in women in their late 30s, and as this continues, there is a concomitant rise in cardiovascular risk that is typically underrepresented in clinical studies,” said Femke de Vries, PhD, student at the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARM) and lead author of the study.

The original one-year study examined both vascular stiffness and blood pressure in participants as they supplemented with vitamin K2, after having low extrahepatic vitamin K status at baseline.

The new post-hoc analysis included 165 women divided into two groups: 78 pre/perimenopausal and 87 post-menopausal women, all of whom had low vitamin K status at baseline.

The researchers found that after one year, MK-7 supplementation improved vascular flexibility by significantly attenuating vascular stiffness in post-menopausal women.

Because there were large baseline differences in vascular stiffness between participants, both groups were further divided according to a low or high stiffness index.  The post-hoc analysis revealed that post-menopausal women with a high stiffness index at baseline showed significant improvements in multiple vascular markers after MK-7 supplementation, along with lower blood pressure in the brachial and carotid arteries.

The opposite was true in the placebo group, where pre- and peri-menopausal women with a high stiffness index exhibited significantly increased brachialis and carotid artery blood pressure, with a stark differential.

“The main findings underscore that menopause negatively affects vascular health, yet vitamin K2 as MK-7 supplementation can mitigate these effects. Additionally, this analysis strongly suggests that supplementation with MenaQ7 Vitamin K2 as MK-7 has potential as a targeted intervention to improve cardiovascular health in post-menopausal women,” said Katarzyna Maresz, PhD, member and coordinator of the Gnosis Vitamin K2 scientific advisory committee and one of the authors of the post-hoc analysis.

Prior research has established low vitamin K status as a cardiovascular risk factor, with clinical trials on MenaQ7 supplementation demonstrating a link to improved activation of matrix Gla protein (MGP), a key inhibitor of vascular calcification.

A 2015 long-term clinical trial found that three years of daily MK-7 supplementation was linked to significant improvements in multiple measures of vascular health in 244 women, such as a reversal of arterial stiffness as shown by pulse-wave velocity.

“We are energized by these new findings and implications for cardiovascular health products, particularly those serving women working through menopause, but also for the consideration of those approaching menopause,” said Marie Tutein Brenoe, Gnosis’ head of marketing. “These results shine a light on the necessity of personalized interventions, as not all the women benefited the same. Those with elevated arterial stiffness experienced the greatest improvements, including lower blood pressure. Gnosis will continue to drive clinical validation that creates the most effective and trustworthy products on the market.”