Are you getting enough vitamin K from your diet? You probably don’t know this, because blood levels of this essential micronutrient are rarely measured. Now, perhaps they should be more often; recent studies show that a diet low in vitamin K within a population is associated, among other things, with more cases of type 2 diabetes. Enough to take a fresh look at this group of vitamins present mainly in green vegetables, as well as in fermented products, and recognized above all for their involvement in blood coagulation – the letter K comes from the German koagulation.
“Public health considers that vitamin K intakes are sufficient, while this is probably not the case for the majority of people [dans les pays occidentaux] », Indicates Mathieu Ferron, director of the Molecular Physiology Research Unit at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM). Last fall, the scientist received the André-Dupont prize from the Quebec Clinical Research Club, given to a young researcher for the excellence of his research in the biomedical field.
Since the start of his independent career a decade ago, the professor affiliated with the University of Montreal and McGill University has investigated the surprising role of vitamin K in specialized cells, such as the beta cells of the pancreas, which secrete insulin. This work could potentially lead to new therapeutic approaches to prevent or even treat diabetes, argues the holder of the Canada Research Chair in bone and energy metabolism.
From bones to the pancreas
Mathieu Ferron’s interest in this metabolic pathology dates back to his postdoctoral training at Columbia University in New York. While working on bone cells, his specialty at the time, he contributed to a major discovery: osteocalcin, a hormone produced by bone and involved in bone maturation, also influences energy metabolism. “The bone thus communicates with other organs,” he summarizes, “like an endocrine organ. »
It turns out that osteocalcin indirectly depends on vitamin K to play its role. The latter combines with an enzyme, gamma-carboxylase, to control osteocalcin – as well as proteins useful for blood clotting. In a way, vitamin K “stimulates” gamma-carboxylase, like a little starter, so that this enzyme carries out a host of biochemical reactions.
Since vitamin K seems to have a protective effect against type 2 diabetes, Mathieu Ferron made the connection: could such an enzymatic reaction, based on this “starter”, intervene in the production of insulin by the beta cells of the pancreas?
His intuitions were proven true. Using cutting-edge techniques in biochemistry, proteomics as well as cellular and molecular biology, he and his team proved that the enzymes involved in gamma-carboxylation were present in large quantities in mouse pancreatic beta cells. He also discovered a new gamma-carboxylated protein called ERGP, involved in the regulation of insulin. Vitamin K would therefore participate in the control of blood sugar levels via the ERPG and the regulation of insulin. The results of this study were published in 2023 in Cell Reports.
The Ozempic of tomorrow?
This breakthrough opens new avenues of research. For example, are low vitamin K levels a significant cause of high fasting blood sugar, one of the warning signs of type 2 diabetes? Are we facing a candidate for the antidiabetics of tomorrow? Will simple vitamin K supplementation be enough? It is still too early to say. “We are still at the hypothesis stage,” says Mathieu Ferron. You shouldn’t skip any steps. »
Either way, the potential is enormous. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the pathology affects 1 in 11 people worldwide. Anything to encourage the scientist to continue his investigation, thinks his colleague Jean-François Côté, president and scientific director of the IRCM. “Mathieu is living proof that it is possible to combine fundamental and applied research,” he emphasizes. The social and scientific relevance of his work is undeniable. »
