Blood coagulation factors in the elderly.
To investigate causes of the age-dependent increase of thromboembolic events, plasma coagulation parameters were determined in healthy elderly blood donors in comparison with young, and elderly diseased blood donors. Partial thromboplastin and thrombin clotting times were slightly shortened, whereas prothrombin and reptilase clotting times were unaltered. Plasma concentration of clotting factors like F I, VII, VIII: C, X, HMW-kininogen and prekallikrein were increased, whereas the coagulation inhibitor antithrombin III was decreased. Concerning fibrinolysis, plasminogen and alpha-2-antiplasmin were not affected by age, but plasminogen activators in the euglobulin fraction were lower. This shift in the pattern of coagulation factors favors enhanced fibrin formation and delayed fibrinolysis in the elderly. Higher intermediary products demonstrate that activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis happen more often in elderly healthy people. Together with blood stasis and vessel wall damage, this shift of the hemostatic balance contributes to a higher incidence of thromboembolic disorders in the aged.
Hager
K
K
Chair of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, F.R.G.
Setzer
J
J
Vogl
T
T
Voit
J
J
Platt
D
D
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005342:Fibrinolysis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000503:physiopathology