They have shown that people with this condition have lower levels of the vitamin than healthy subjects.
They also found that the rate of bone loss in Crohn's patients is higher when vitamin K is low, according to the November issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology 99(11):2178-85.
Crohn's disease affects between 30,000 and 60,000 people in the UK, but up to 6,000 new cases are diagnosed each year and research shows that the number of people with the disease has been rising steadily, particularly among young people.
Crohn's patients have a high risk of osteopoenia, or thinning bones, but there is some evidence that a deficiency of certain bone-active nutrients (including vitamins K and D) may have a partial role in this bone loss, write the researchers from the University College in Cork, Ireland.
Dr Kevin Cashman and colleagues compared vitamin K1 status in 44 Crohn's disease patients, currently in remission, with 44 controls.
Data from food frequency questionnaires suggested that vitamin K levels were lower in the Crohn's disease group than in the controls. Biomarkers of bone resorption were also higher in the Crohn's group.
The researchers conclude that "it would seem timely to investigate the effect of vitamin K supplementation on bone turnover and bone mass in Crohn's disease patients".