# Vitamin K Status of Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study
## 3 Results
### Relationship with Treatment Patterns  
The subgroup of patients undergoing treatment with vitamin K antagonists (13/45) presented with significantly higher levels of dp-uc MGP (5693.0 \(\pm\) 1728.64 vs. 2276.5 \(\pm\) 1232.54 pmol/L, \(p\) < 0.001) (Figure 1). Those treated with non-calcium-based phosphate binders (20 patients) presented with significantly higher levels of dp-uc MGP when compared to those of the patients treated with calcium-based phosphate binders (15 patients) (4089.2 \(\pm\) 2045.79 vs. 2134.86 \(\pm\) 1944.63 pmol/L, \(p\) = 0.019) (Figure 2). We found that the patients treated with the vitamin D receptor activator paralcitol (20 patients) had significantly increased levels of dp-uc MGP (4224.55 \(\pm\) 2162.32 vs. 2503.75 \(\pm\) 1709.31 pmol/L, \(p\) = 0.005) (Figure 3). In the current study, we found no statistically significant correlation between the medication patterns and the total OC level.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline
**Variable** & **Mean Values \(\pm\) Standard Deviations** \\ \hline Age (years) & 64.3 \(\pm\) 10.8 \\ Gender & female 19:26 male \\ BMI (kg/m\({}^{2}\)) & 28.08 \(\pm\) 4.4 \\ Abdominal circumference (cm) & 115.89 \(\pm\) 18.12 \\ Serum albumin (mmol/L) & 0.55 \(\pm\) 0.04 \\ Dialysis vintage (years) & 3.78 \(\pm\) 2.65 \\ Hemoglobin (g/L) & 110.9 \(\pm\) 11.83 \\ Hematocrit (\%) & 33.58 \(\pm\) 3.8982 \\ Serum calcium (mmol/L) & 2.29 \(\pm\) 0.20 \\ Serum phosphorus (mmol/L) & 1.81 \(\pm\) 0.45 \\ iPTH (pmol/L) & 21.0 \(\pm\) 13.79 \\ Bicarbonate (mmol/L) & 21.46 \(\pm\) 2.578 \\ Predialysis K (mmol/L) & 5.47 \(\pm\) 1 \\ CRP (mg/dL) & 14.71 \(\pm\) 15.34 \\ Treatment with vitamin K antagonists & 13 (28.88\%) \\ (number/proportion of patients) & Non-calcium based: 20 (44.44\%): \\ Treatment with phosphate binders & calcium based:15 (33.33\%) \\ (number/proportion of patients) & 20 (44.44\%) \\ Treatment with paralcitol & 20 (44.44\%) \\ (number/proportion of patients) & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Characteristics of the studied patients group (the results are expressed as mean values \(\pm\) standard deviations).  
Figure 1: The group of patients undergoing vitamin K antagonists’ treatment (13 out of 45) had significantly higher mean levels of dp-uc MGP (5693.0 \(\pm\) 1728.64 vs. 2276.5 \(\pm\) 1232.54 pmol/L, \(p\) < 0.001). The level of dp-uc MGP is expressed in pmol/L.  
Figure 3: The group of patients treated with vitamin D receptor activator parcalcitol (20 patients) was associated with significantly increased mean levels of dp-uc MGP (4224.55 \(\pm\) 2162.32 vs. 2503.75 \(\pm\) 1709.31 pmol/L, \(p\) = 0.005). The level of MGP is expressed in pmol/L.  
Figure 2: The group of patients undergoing non-calcium-based phosphate binder treatment (20 patients) had significantly higher mean levels of dp-uc MGP compared to the levels of those treated with calcium-based phosphate binders (15 patients) (4089.2 \(\pm\) 2045.79 vs. 2134.86 \(\pm\) 1944.63 pmol/L, \(p\) = 0.019) (0—no phosphate binder (PB); 1—non-calcium-based PB; 2—calcium-based PB). The level of dp-uc MGP is expressed in pmol/L.