title: The plasma levels of activated thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor and thrombomodulin in Behçet disease and their association with thrombosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the plasma levels of activated thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (aTAFI) and thrombomodulin (TM) in Behçet disease (BD) and their relationship with thrombosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Plasma aTAFI and TM levels were measured by ELISA in 89 patients with BD (18 having venous thrombosis) and in 86 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with healthy controls, the BD group had significantly lower levels of aTAFI (13.49+/-8.88 microg/ml vs. 26.76+/-11.57 microg/ml, p<0.0001) and significantly higher levels of TM (3.26+/-1.85 ng/ml vs. 2.6+/-0.69 ng/ml, p=0.0003). Neither aTAFI, nor TM levels differed significantly between BD patients with and without thrombosis (p>0.05). Despite a tendency to positive correlation (r=0.37, p=0.0004) between plasma levels of aTAFI and TM in healthy controls, there was a tendency for negative correlation (r=-0.51, p<0.0001) between these two parameters in BD patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The plasma aTAFI and TM levels do not seem to be related with the presence of thrombosis observed in BD. Increased plasma TM levels in BD may simply reflect endothelial cell activation and dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Ege University Medical School, Department of Hematology, Izmir, Turkey. ayhan.donmez@ege.edu.tr
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donmez
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aksu
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Gokhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Keser
authors.forename: Seckin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cagirgan
authors.forename: Eker
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Doganavsargil
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tombuloglu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D025901:Carboxypeptidase B2 / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018180:Thrombomodulin / Q000097:blood*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology*; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C546931:THBD protein, human; D018180:Thrombomodulin; D025901:Carboxypeptidase B2