title: White coat hypertension and haemostatic/fibrinolytic balance disorders.
abstract: White coat hypertension (WCH) or isolated clinic hypertension is generally accepted to be a benign condition, although some reports have suggested that it may be associated with an increased cardiovascular event rate or other cardiovascular alterations. It has been previously shown that essential hypertension (EH) is associated with abnormalities in haemostatic/fibrinolytic balance and endothelial function. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of WCH on fibrinolytic balance and endothelial function by measuring plasma levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator antigen (tPA), fibrinogen, and thrombomodulin. These markers were determined in 71 patients with EH, 26 with WCH and 87 normotensive healthy control subjects. The three groups were not different with respect to age, gender, smoking habits, BMI and blood lipids. Subjects with WCH were found to have increased plasma levels of PAI-1, tPA, fibrinogen and thrombomodulin compared to controls, but less compared to hypertensive ones. Our results suggest that WCH may be associated with decreased fibrinolytic potential and endothelial dysfunction, indicating that WCH may not be a completely harmless trait.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Laiko General Hospital, 6-8 Glyconos street, 106-75 Athens, Greece. jimpapdoc@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Makris
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stavroulakis
authors.forename: Demetrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Paizis
authors.forename: Panagiota
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krespi
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsoukala
authors.forename: Antonios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hatzizacharias
authors.forename: Vasilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Votteas
mesh_terms: D001778:Blood Coagulation Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism; D005342:Fibrinolysis / Q000502:physiology*; D006487:Hemostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000097:blood; D018180:Thrombomodulin / Q000097:blood; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D018180:Thrombomodulin; D005340:Fibrinogen; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator