title: Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor in Behçet's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is a procarboxypeptidase downregulating plasmin formation, thereby causing a tendency for thrombosis development. Since, Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis, which is commonly complicated by arterial and venous thrombosis, we aimed to find out plasma TAFI levels in BD, compared with healthy controls. We also searched whether plasma TAFI levels were significantly different between Behçet's subgroups with and without thrombosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, 105 BD patients (M/F: 64/41; mean age 36+/-1 years), followed up by Ege University Rheumatology Department were enrolled. The exclusion criteria were hemophilia, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, hepatic diseases renal failure, antiphospholipid positivity, oral contraceptive use and pregnancy. Age-and sex-matched healthy controls (n=53) were also included. Plasma TAFI levels were measured by ELISA. Since TAFI is also an acute-phase reactant, we also measured other inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma TAFI levels were significantly higher in Behçet's patients (91.1+/-7.4 ng/ml) compared with healthy controls (14.3+/-4.5 ng/ml) (P<0.001), but there were no significant difference between the subgroups with and without thrombosis. In BD, there was no correlation between plasma TAFI levels and CRP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regardless of manifest thrombosis, plasma TAFI levels in BD were significantly higher than in healthy controls. High TAFI levels might possibly contribute to the thrombotic tendency in BD. Future studies investigating TAFI gene polymorphism and functional activity are clearly needed, to clarify the exact role of TAFI in Behçet's thrombosis.
authors.affiliation: Ege University Medical School Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, 35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. adonmez@med.ege.edu.tr
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donmez
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aksu
authors.forename: Handan Ak
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Keser
authors.forename: Seckin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cagirgan
authors.forename: Serdar Bedii
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Omay
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Inal
authors.forename: Hikmet Hakan
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tombuloglu
authors.forename: Eker
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Doganavsargil
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D025901:Carboxypeptidase B2 / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D025901:Carboxypeptidase B2