Influence of vitamin K on gut microbiota

The goal of this study was to determine the influence of dietary vitamin K (VK) on gut microbial community composition. Three studies were conducted to meet this objective: 1) unlabeled and 2) stable isotope-labeled VK quinones were supplemented in the diets of C57BL6 mice, and 3) stable isotope-labeled VK quinones and a VK precursor (menadione, MD) were supplemented into an in vitro fermentation model inoculated with human stool. 16S sequencing of cecal samples and culture aliquots was completed to analyze the effect of VK supplementation on gut microbiota composition. Vitamin K is a micronutrient that is both consumed in the diet and produced endogenously by the gut microbiota, and thus these studies are relevant to the study of nutrition and the gut microbiome.