Plasma hemostatic factors and endothelial markers in four racial/ethnic groups: the MESA study.
BACKGROUND
Hemostatic factors and endothelial markers may play some role in racial/ethnic differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates. However, little information exists on hemostatic factors and endothelial markers across racial/ethnic groups.


OBJECTIVE
To describe, in four American racial/ethnic groups (Caucasian, Black, Hispanic, and Chinese), mean levels of selected hemostatic factors and endothelial markers.


METHODS
Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis baseline data were used (participant age: 45-84 years). Sex-specific analysis of covariance models, and t-tests for pairwise comparisons, were used to compare means of factors and markers. Adjustments were made for demographics and traditional CVD risk factors. Differences were significant at P < 0.05.


RESULTS
Blacks had the highest levels of factor VIII, D-Dimer, plasmin-antiplasmin (PAP), and von Willebrand factor, among the highest levels of fibrinogen and E-selectin (women only), but among the lowest levels of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), and, in men, the lowest levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Whites and Hispanics tended to have intermediate levels of factors and markers, although they had the highest levels of ICAM-1, and Hispanics had the highest mean levels of fibrinogen and E-selectin (women only). Chinese participants had among the highest levels of PAI-1, but the lowest, or among the lowest, of all other factors and markers. No soluble thrombomodulin differences were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
In this large cohort, hemostatic factor and endothelial marker mean levels varied by race/ethnicity, even after adjustment for traditional CVD risk factors.
Lutsey
P L
PL
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Cushman
M
M
Steffen
L M
LM
Green
D
D
Barr
R G
RG
Herrington
D
D
Ouyang
P
P
Folsom
A R
AR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001213:Asian; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D044383:Black People; D001779:Blood Coagulation Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D044469:Racial Groups; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D044465:White People
D015415:Biomarkers; D001779:Blood Coagulation Factors