[Clinical implications of undercarboxylated osteocalcin].

Importance of vitamin K has been suggested to maintain and improve bone strength. The serum concentration of undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) is utilized to assess the vitamin K status in bone metabolism. The clinical threshold for ucOC has been determined to discriminate the people at risk for fragility fractures from the view points of vitamin K metabolism. The measurement of ucOC would be useful to select the patients who require vitamin K(2) regimen and to assess the effectiveness of vitamin K(2) therapy.