ViKTORIES - Vitamin K in renal transplant
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Vitamin K in Transplanted kidney Organ Recipients: Investigating vEssel Stiffness (ViKTORIES).
IRAS ID
227236
Contact name
Jennifer S Lees
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 1 months, 5 days
Research summary
Patients with chronic kidney disease are at higher risk of heart and vessel disease than the general population, and this risk persists after renal transplant. In particular, patients with renal transplant are at higher risk of having stiffened, calcified vessels, which leaves them more prone to heart attacks, heart wall thickening and abnormal heart rhythms. Standard treatments to prevent or treat heart and vessel disease (blood pressure reduction, smoking cessation, treatment of high cholesterol) have thus far proved insufficient in preventing or reducing this vessel stiffening, and it is believed that other factors may be involved.
There is an enzyme in the body called Matrix Gla-protein (MGP) that is now known to prevent vascular calcification and stiffening when in its activated form. This enzyme requires adequate quantities of vitamin K – normally absorbed from the diet – to be fully active. Patients with chronic kidney disease and renal transplant are known to consume a diet with inadequate vitamin K. MGP is therefore not fully active, and blood vessels can become stiffened and calcified more quickly.
This will be a study of whether vitamin K supplementation in tablet form for 1 year in renal transplant patients can help reduce vascular stiffening. We will measure the effect of vascular stiffening using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart and vessels. We will conduct other non-invasive tests where we measure the speed of blood flow between arteries in the neck and the wrist. We will also take a series of blood and urine tests and we will ask participants to keep a food diary for 1 week to estimate vitamin K content in the diet.REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
17/WS/0101
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion