title: Smoking, von Willebrand factor and ADAMTS-13 in healthy males.
abstract: While von Willebrand factor (vWF) has been reported to be elevated in smokers, there are no reports on the effects of smoking on its cleaving protease ADAMTS-13, particularly in subjects of Arab ethnicity. This study was conducted to determine the effects of smoking on vWF and ADAMTS-13 antigen and activity levels in Arab males. Venous blood samples from 80 smoking (at rest) and 80 non-smoking healthy males were collected after asking subjects to fast and refrain from smoking for 8 hours. Similar sampling was done for 40 smokers (acute smokers), who were asked to smoke one cigarette immediately before blood collection. Plasma was used to measure ADAMTS-13 antigen and activity levels, as well as vWF antigen and collagen binding activity levels using commercial ELISA kits. Compared to non-smokers, ADAMTS-13 and vWF activities were significantly lower in smokers at rest (p < 0.05). Acute smokers had significantly higher levels of vWF activity and ADAMTS-13 antigen and activity levels (p < 0.01), compared to smokers at rest. Our results suggest that high vWF activity is accompanied by an increase in ADAMTS-13 activity as a natural physiological mechanism to degrade the elevated vWF molecules. If not followed by a subsequent smoke, the activities of both proteins subside. It is possible that the repeated increase in vWF and constant degradation by ADAMTS-13 results in lower overall levels of both proteins in smokers (at rest) compared to nonsmokers who do not experience a similar (repeated) injury to the endothelium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University, Sulaibekhat, Kuwait. alawadhi@hsc.edu.kw
authors.forename: Anwar M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Al-Awadhi
authors.forename: Mehrez M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Jadaon
authors.forename: Faisal A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Alsayegh
authors.forename: Seham K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Al-Sharrah
mesh_terms: D051722:ADAM Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D000071120:ADAMTS13 Protein; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D051722:ADAM Proteins; D000071120:ADAMTS13 Protein; C099604:ADAMTS13 protein, human