Which vitamin deficiency is linked to hemorrhagic disease and involves clotting pathways?

Which vitamin deficiency is linked to hemorrhagic disease and involves clotting pathways?

• A. Vitamin A
• B. Vitamin B2
• C. Vitamin K
• D. Vitamin D

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that a nutrient acts as a critical cofactor for the proteins that drive blood coagulation. Vitamin K is essential for activating several clotting factors by a process called gamma-carboxylation, which adds carboxyl groups to specific glutamate residues. This modification allows these factors (II, VII, IX, and X) and proteins C and S to bind calcium and become functionally active in the coagulation cascade. When Vitamin K is deficient, these factors can’t be properly activated, leading to impaired clot formation and a tendency to bleed — the hemorrhagic disease. Newborns are a classic group at risk for this deficiency (newborn VKDB) because their gut bacteria, which help synthesize Vitamin K, aren’t fully established yet, and they may have limited stores of fat-soluble vitamins. Fat-malabsorption or use of antibiotics that disrupt gut flora can also cause deficiency. The other vitamins listed don’t have a direct role in activating the coagulation factors, so they aren’t linked to hemorrhagic disease in this context. Vitamin A relates to vision and epithelial health, Vitamin B2 to energy metabolism, and Vitamin D to calcium and bone health.

The key idea is that a nutrient acts as a critical cofactor for the proteins that drive blood coagulation. Vitamin K is essential for activating several clotting factors by a process called gamma-carboxylation, which adds carboxyl groups to specific glutamate residues. This modification allows these factors (II, VII, IX, and X) and proteins C and S to bind calcium and become functionally active in the coagulation cascade. When Vitamin K is deficient, these factors can’t be properly activated, leading to impaired clot formation and a tendency to bleed — the hemorrhagic disease.

Newborns are a classic group at risk for this deficiency (newborn VKDB) because their gut bacteria, which help synthesize Vitamin K, aren’t fully established yet, and they may have limited stores of fat-soluble vitamins. Fat-malabsorption or use of antibiotics that disrupt gut flora can also cause deficiency. The other vitamins listed don’t have a direct role in activating the coagulation factors, so they aren’t linked to hemorrhagic disease in this context. Vitamin A relates to vision and epithelial health, Vitamin B2 to energy metabolism, and Vitamin D to calcium and bone health.