title: Prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 and antithrombin III-thrombin complex in microalbuminuric type 2 diabetic patients.
abstract: In microalbuminuria there is an increased cardiovascular risk not fully explained by the excess of conventional risk factors. To investigate whether or not microalbuminuria is associated with haemostatic abnormalities in Type 2 diabetic patients, we measured the prothrombin fragment 1 + 2, a marker of thrombin generation, and the thrombin-antithrombin complex, a marker of thrombin neutralization. Plasma levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 and thrombin-antithrombin complex were assayed in 17 microalbuminuric patients (albumin excretion rate, AER 20-200 micrograms min-1) and in 17 comparable normoalbuminuric (AER < 20 micrograms min-1) Type 2 diabetic patients. Plasma prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 was significantly higher in microalbuminuric than in normoalbuminuric patients (1.09 +/- 0.06 vs 0.86 +/- 0.04 nM, p = 0.003). Individual values of F1 + 2 were above the upper limit of the normal range in 8/17 microalbuminuric and in none of the normoalbuminuric Type 2 diabetic patients. Plasma thrombin-antithrombin complex values were not significantly different in the two groups and were not correlated with AER. These results suggest that microalbuminuria is associated with a prethrombotic state and a relatively defective thrombin neutralization. Coagulation abnormalities might be part of the cardiovascular risk in microalbuminuric patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Internal Medicine, University of Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gruden
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cavallo-Perin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romagnoli
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Olivetti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frezet
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pagano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology; D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000378:metabolism*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism*; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D011516:Prothrombin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011498:Protein Precursors; C046193:antithrombin III-protease complex; C029733:prothrombin fragment 1; C044183:prothrombin fragment 2; D000990:Antithrombin III; D011516:Prothrombin; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases