Changes of phylloquinone and menaquinone-4 concentrations in rat liver after oral, intravenous and intraperitoneal administration.

To study the metabolism of K Vitamins (VK) in the liver, two types of natural VK, phylloquinone (K1) and menaquinone-4 (MK-4), were administered to male Wistar rats orally (P.O.), intravenously (I.V.) and intraperitoneally (I.P.). Blood and a small portion of the liver (and ascites by I.P.) were collected 8 times up to 72 h (P.O.) or 24 h (I.V. and I.P.). A modified assay procedure followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed to detect VK from small amounts of liver tissue. After oral administration of both K1 and MK-4 (10 mumol/kg-P.O.), their concentrations in the liver increased from 1 h then reached a maximum at 6 h (10 nmol/g v.s. 0.35 nmol/g). After intravenous or intraperitoneal administration of K1 and MK-4 (0.5 mumol/kg-I.V. and I.P.), MK-4 concentrations in the liver reached a maximum faster than those of K1 (1.2 nmol/g -3 h vs. 1.3 nmol/g -0.5 h I.V. and 0.97 nmol/g -6 h vs. 0.47 nmol/g -1 h I.P.). MK-4 also increased in the liver from 6 h to 12 h (0.11 nmol/g -12 h) after oral administration of K1 (P.O.). These results indicate that K1 stays in plasma and liver longer than MK-4 and orally administered K1 might be transformed partially into MK-4 in the liver.