title: Thrombomodulin and von Willebrand factor: relation to endothelial dysfunction and disease outcome in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: The severe endothelial dysfunction in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) can result from the disease itself, from treatment, or from other conditions (e.g. sepsis). The aim of this study was to determine the levels of markers of endothelial activation in children with ALL and to assess their potential prognostic value. Fifty-two children with ALL, 19 children with ALL 1-10 years after the completion of therapy, and 28 healthy children were studied. In children with ALL, there was a significant increase in thrombomodulin (TM) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels during the acute phase of the disease and during treatment. Children with an unfavorable outcome had higher levels of TM. In conclusion, severe endothelial dysfunction is present during the acute phase of ALL and during treatment and appears to result from the disease itself. Serum TM and vWF levels might represent additional, but not independent, prognostic markers in childhood ALL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. chatzipa@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: Emmanouel S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Hatzipantelis
authors.forename: Miranda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Athanassiou-Metaxa
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gombakis
authors.forename: Vaso
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tzimouli
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taparkou
authors.forename: Vasiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sidi-Fragandrea
authors.forename: Vasilia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Garipidou
authors.forename: Theothotis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Papageorgiou
authors.forename: Drosia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kleta
authors.forename: Dimitrios E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Koliouskas
authors.forename: Fani
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Athanasiadou-Piperopoulou
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011379:Prognosis; D018180:Thrombomodulin / Q000097:blood*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018180:Thrombomodulin; D014841:von Willebrand Factor