Vitamin K: biochemical role and deficiency

Quick Orientation

Section	Objective	Keywords
Definition	Understand the core idea	Vitamin K, 70 to 140 μg/day
Chemistry	Learn the main facts and relationships	Chemistry
Absorption, Transport and Storage	Learn the main facts and relationships	chylomicrons, bile salts, LDL
Biochemical Functions	Learn the main facts and relationships	carboxylase, glutamate (Glu) to γ-carboxyglutamate (Gla), O2 and CO2
Role of Gla in Clotting	Learn the main facts and relationships	Gla, COO⁻, Ca²⁺
Clinical Correlation	Connect the mechanism to clinical findings	Vitamin K deficiency, malabsorption, diarrhoeal disease

Section

Definition

Objective: Understand the core idea
Keywords: Vitamin K, 70 to 140 μg/day

Chemistry

Objective: Learn the main facts and relationships
Keywords: Chemistry

Absorption, Transport and Storage

Objective: Learn the main facts and relationships
Keywords: chylomicrons, bile salts, LDL

Biochemical Functions

Objective: Learn the main facts and relationships
Keywords: carboxylase, glutamate (Glu) to γ-carboxyglutamate (Gla), O2 and CO2

Role of Gla in Clotting

Objective: Learn the main facts and relationships
Keywords: Gla, COO⁻, Ca²⁺

Clinical Correlation

Objective: Connect the mechanism to clinical findings
Keywords: Vitamin K deficiency, malabsorption, diarrhoeal disease

Definition

Vitamin K is the only fat-soluble vitamin with a specific coenzyme function, required for synthesis of blood clotting factors (German Koagulation, hence "K").