Vitamin K Deficiency

General Principles

Vitamin K deficiency is usually caused by malabsorption states or poor dietary intake, often combined with antibiotic-associated loss of intestinal bacterial colonization. Hepatocytes require vitamin K to complete the γ-carboxylation-mediated synthesis of clotting factors (X, IX, VII, prothrombin) and the natural anticoagulant proteins C and S.

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