Vitamin K - Vitamin K in Rats

Vitamin K in Rats

A recent study has shown that rats who are fed excess amounts of vitamin K had greater amounts of brain sulfatide concentrations. This study indicates that vitamin K has more uses than originally thought, thus furthering the importance of daily vitamin K intake. The same study showed that a diet with insufficient vitamin K levels decreased the brain sulfatide concentrations in rats at the (p < . 01) significance level. Another study involving rats has indicated that different species, strains and genders of rats required different amounts of vitamin K intake, depending on how much was stored in their livers. This may indicate that different humans should have different needs for their vitamin K intake. A third study looked at the way rats and chicks are able to recycle parts of vitamin K. The study found that chicks are about 10% less efficient in recycling the vitamin K than their rat counterparts. This evidences also helps to confirm that vitamin K levels are unique to each species, and the previous study shows that required vitamin K intake also varies within species.