Summary
The metabolic syndrome, in which insulin resistance is the core feature, is associated
both with dysregulation of thrombosis/ fibrinolysis and erythrocyte sodium/lithium
countertransport (SLC).To investigate this further we designed a cross-sectional study
to examine whether factors involved in coagulationand fibrinolysis systems were associated
with SLC independently of insulin resistance in 93 58-year-old men. SLC was in univariate
analysis positively correlated with PAI-1 activity (r = 0.35, p <0.01), tPA antigen
(r = 0.38, p <0.01), von Willebrand factor (r = 0.25, p <0.05), protein S (r = 0.26,
p <0.05), and C (r = 0.30, p <0.01), and negatively associated with tPA activity(r
= −0.28, p <0.01). Since these correlations could be influenced by the components
of the metabolic syndrome itself, a separate analysis with adjustment for glucose
infusion rate (GIR), plasma insulin, body fat, sagittal diameter of the abdomen (SD)
and log serum triglyceride concentration (TG) was conducted. Then SLC was associated
with tPA antigen independent of GIR, plasma insulin, body fat, SD and TG. SLC was
also associated with protein C independent of GIR, insulin, body fat and SD but not
TG. In conclusion, we found a relationship between SLC and the fibrinolytic system
that was not related to the metabolic syndrome.
Keywords
Sodium/lithium countertransport - fibrinolysis - coagulation - metabolic syndrome
- renin-angiotensin system