Joint Association of Low Vitamin D and Vitamin K Status with Blood Pressure and Hypertension

Low Vitamin D and K status are both associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. New evidence from experimental studies on bone health suggest an interaction between Vitamin D and K; however, a joint association with vascular health outcomes is largely unknown. To prospectively investigate whether the combination of low Vitamin D and K status is associated with higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure in 402 participants and with incident hypertension in 231 participants free of hypertension at baseline. We used data from a subsample of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a population-based cohort of Dutch participants aged 55 to 65 years. Vitamin D and K status were assessed by 25-hydroxyVitamin D and dp-ucMGP (dephosphorylated uncarboxylated matrix gla protein) concentrations (high dp-ucMGP is indicative for low Vitamin K status) in stored samples from 2002 to 2003. Vitamin D and K status were categorized into 25-hydroxyVitamin D <50/≥50 mmol/L and median dp-ucMGP