title: Low plasma protein Z levels in patients with ischemic colitis.
abstract: Hypercoagulable states have been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemic colitis. Since protein Z is, as recently demonstrated, important in the regulation of coagulation, we investigated the plasma levels of protein Z in connection to factor V Leiden (FVL) and anti-phospholipid antibodies in patients with a definite diagnosis of ischemic colitis. The plasma levels of protein Z were measured using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 33 patients with ischemic colitis, 13 patients with diverticulitis, and 33 healthy controls. Mean plasma protein Z levels were 1.38 +/- 0.52 microg/ml in patients with ischemic colitis and were significantly lower compared to healthy controls (1.86 +/- 0.49 microg/ml) and patients with diverticulitis (1.72 +/- 0.53 microg/ml) (P = 0.001). Protein Z deficiency was found in patients cases with ischemic colitis (18.2%) compared to one with diverticulitis (7.7%) and one healthy control (3.0%). In conclusion, our results suggest that low plasma protein Z levels may play a role in the disease development in some cases with ischemic colitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Koutroubakis
authors.forename: Angeliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Theodoropoulou
authors.forename: Aekaterini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sfiridaki
authors.forename: Elias A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kouroumalis
mesh_terms: D017152:Antibodies, Antiphospholipid / Q000032:analysis; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D017091:Colitis, Ischemic / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D004238:Diverticulitis / Q000097:blood*; D005165:Factor V / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D017152:Antibodies, Antiphospholipid; D001798:Blood Proteins; C095381:factor V Leiden; C026080:plasma protein Z; D005165:Factor V