According to a study published in the journal Cell Reports, vitamin K can help prevent the development of diabetes. The researchers noted that this finding can help in developing new therapeutic applications for a disease that affects one in 11 people worldwide.

Dr. Mathieu Ferron, associate research professor of medicine at UdeM, noted that diabetes is known to be caused by a reduction in the number of beta cells or by their inability to produce enough insulin.

Vitamin K is a vitamin best recognised for its function in blood clotting, specifically gamma-carboxylation, an enzyme reaction required for the process. In the study, the researchers from the Universite de Montréal (UdeM) discovered that vitamin K and gamma-carboxylation have a protective effect on beta cells.

The researchers noted that the enzymes involved in gamma-carboxylation were present in large quantities in pancreatic beta cells. The researchers identified a new gamma-carboxylate protein called ERGP.

The researchers found that the new protein helped maintain physiological levels of calcium in beta cells to prevent a disturbance of insulin secretion. Hence, they concluded that vitamin K and gamma-carboxylation are essential for ERGP to perform its function. 

(Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-reveals-vitamin-diabetes.html)