Lee Swanson Research Update

Vitamin K Shows Potential in the Fight Against Wrinkles

November 2007

A study published in the on-line version of Laboratory Investigation suggests that vitamin K plays a role in protecting skin elasticity and may help protect against skin aging and the development of wrinkles.

Recent studies have linked vitamin K to the elasticity of skin in patients suffering from pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), an inherited condition resulting in severe wrinkling of the skin on the face and body.

Although the link between vitamin K and normal levels of skin wrinkling seen in healthy populations is unknown, scientists suggest that these studies illustrate that the vitamin is involved, in some capacity, in the skin’s elastic qualities.

Severe loss of elastic qualities in the skin is due to the calcification of the elastic fibers. High concentrations of calcium and phosphate in the extracellular space would lead to calcification if it wasn’t inhibited by families of proteins.

The recent study illustrates the involvement of Matrix y-carboxyglutamic acid protein (MGP) in the inhibition of calcium precipitation in sufferers of PXE. However, this protein must be activated by a vitamin K-dependent enzyme.

Furthermore, prior research has shown that individuals who are unable to metabolize vitamin K also exhibit the PXE symptoms, thereby confirming the role of the vitamin in the skin wrinkling seen in sufferers.

"For the moment the link between vitamin K and skin elastin in the population that does not have PXE is unknown," Leon Schurgers, from the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, and co-author of the report said.

However, the fact that the research has identified a strong link between vitamin K and the PXE phenotype, leads Schurgers to speculate that the vitamin may be linked to signs of wrinkling and loss of skin elastin in aging individuals in healthy populations as well.

Laboratory Investigation, published on-line ahead of print

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