Summary
Raised plasma levels of the soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR)
have been associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Whether
suPAR is associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) is largely unknown. The purpose
of the present study was to investigate the relationship between suPAR and incidence
of VTE in a cohort study. suPAR was measured in 5,203 subjects (aged 46–68 years,
58 % women) from the general population, who participated in the Malmö Diet and Cancer
(MDC) study between 1991 and 1994. Incident cases of VTE were identified from the
Swedish patient register during a mean follow-up of 15.7 years. Of 5,203 subjects
with measurements of suPAR, 239 had VTE during follow-up (127 venous thrombosis, 86
lung embolism, 26 both). Incidence of VTE was significantly higher in subjects with
suPAR levels in the top quartile. Adjusted for age and sex, the HR (4th vs 1st quartile) was 1.74 (95%CI: 1.2–2.6, p for trend=0.003). After adjustments for risk
factors, the HR was 1.66 (95 %CI: 1.1–2.5, p for trend=0.016). High level of suPAR
was a risk indicator for incidence of VTE in this population-based cohort study. The
causal relationships between suPAR and VTE remain to be explored.
Supplementary Material to this article is available online at www.thrombosis-online.com.
Keywords
Epidemiological studies - venous thrombosis - pulmonary embolism - plasminogen activators