title: Prothrombin fragments F1+2, thrombin-antithrombin III complexes, fibrin monomers and fibrinogen in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.
abstract: We determined the plasma levels of prothrombin fragment F1+2, thrombin-antithrombin III complexes (TAT), fibrin monomers (FM), D-dimers (DD) and fibrinogen in 57 patients with angiographically verified graded coronary artery disease (CAD) free of concomitant peripheral atherosclerosis, cerebrovascular disease or diabetes mellitus and a group of 21 apparently healthy controls. Blood was collected from the antecubital vein through atraumatic venipuncture prior to the angiographic procedure. Plasma levels of hemostatic markers were related to the presence and graded severity of CAD. The levels of prothrombin fragment F1+2 (1.74+/-0.11 vs. 1.0+/-0.07 nmol/l, P<0.001), FM (41.6+/-5.5 vs. 7.42+/-3.05 nmol/l, P<0.001), TAT (15.6+/-2.7 vs. 2.96+/-0.32 microg/l, P<0.001) and fibrinogen (3.64+/-1.3 vs. 3.08+/-0.33 g/l, P<0.01) were significantly higher in patients with CAD compared to controls, while there was no difference regarding the fibrinolytic system represented by DD (441.6+/-58.9 vs. 337.4+/-42.05 microg/l, n.s.). Within the CAD group, patients with extensive coronary atherosclerosis (> or =2 vessel disease) had significantly higher values for prothrombin fragment F1+2 (1.89 vs. 1.57 nmol/l, P = 0.04), FM (50.7 vs. 29.8 nmol/l, P = 0.03), and a trend to significance was noted for fibrinogen (3.9 vs. 3.3 g/l, P = 0.07) suggesting that blood coagulability was related to the severity of the disease and that hemostatic markers of thrombin activity represent a useful tool to identify patients with a latent hypercoagulable state with a higher susceptibility to sustain coronary thrombosis.
authors.affiliation: Medical Department II, Medical University of Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giannitsis
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Siemens
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mitusch
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tettenborn
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wiegand
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schmücker
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sheikhzadeh
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stierle
mesh_terms: D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000032:analysis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis*; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000032:analysis*; D006487:Hemostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis*; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000032:analysis*; D011516:Prothrombin / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C046193:antithrombin III-protease complex; C036309:fibrin fragment D; C011468:fibrinmonomer; C045879:prothrombin fragment 1.2; D000990:Antithrombin III; D011516:Prothrombin; D005340:Fibrinogen; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases