Plasma Thrombomodulin Levels in Elderly Subjects

Abstract

Plasma levels of thrombomodulin (TM), fibrinogen, antithrombin III (ATIII) and thrombin ATIII complex (TAT) were studied in healthy young subjects (group A), healthy elderly subjects (group B) and patients with chronic nonembolic cerebral infarction (group C). The level of TM in group B tended to be higher than that in group A. Levels of TM, fibrinogen and TAT in group C suggested the presence of a hypercoagulable state. When group C was further divided into those with and without diabetes mellitus (DM), the TM level in the former tended to be higher than that in the latter. Furthermore, among the patients with DM, those with diabetic retinopathy showed significantly higher levels of TM than those without retinopathy. Thus, high TM levels indicate the presence of endothelial injury. In groups B and C, TM correlated positively with fibrinogen, and negatively with ATIII, which also indicates that a high TM level is related to a hypercoagulable state. In conclusion, the TM level is considered to be a potential marker of the presence of endothelial injury.