Bone Abstracts

Background: Postmenopausal osteoporosis involves reduced BMD and higher fracture risk. Vitamin D supports calcium absorption and bone health, while vitamin K1 regulates bone metabolism through activation of osteocalcin and regulation of bone turnover. However, evidence on their synergistic effect in postmenopausal osteoporotic females remains limited.

Methods: In this study, 30 postmenopausal osteoporotic women were enrolled and randomly distributed into three groups (n10 subjects in each group) with 12-months follow-up. All participants received standard treatment of alendronate and calcium along with either vitamin D3, vitamin K1 or a combination of vitamin D3 and K1. Serum vitamin D, vitamin K, calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase levels were measured at baseline and after 12 months of medication. Additionally, BMD was measured at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, total femur, and forearm using DEXA. The statistical analysis included within- and between-group comparisons with a significance level of p-value 0.05.

Results: The descriptive statistical analysis among all treatment groups revealed that, after 12 months of follow-up, Group C participants receiving combined vitamin D3 and K1 supplementation with standard treatment demonstrated greater improvement in lumbar spine and femoral BMD compared to groups receiving either vitamin K1 or D3 alone with standard treatment. Paired T-test were used for within-group comparison and One-way ANOVA test used for between group comparison of both biochemical parameters and bone mineral density. Serum vitamin D levels increased significantly in Group A and C (P 0.001). while vitamin K level shows a significant rise in Group B and C (P 0.001). Serum alkaline phosphatase levels decreased in all groups, indicating suppressed bone turnover, with greater decline observed in group A and C (P 0.001), serum calcium normalized across all groups with maximal improvement in Group C. BMD improved significantly at all sites including the lumbar spine femoral neck, total femur, and forearm on paired analysis (P 0.05). Group C showed significantly greater improvement in lumbar spine and femoral BMD (P 0.05).

Conclusion: In postmenopausal osteoporotic women, combined supplementation of vitamin K1 and D3 with standard treatment showed synergistic effect on BMD and bone metabolism, indicating its potential role as an adjunct therapy in osteoporosis management.