Plasma thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) antigen levels in acromegaly patients in remission.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Acromegaly is associated with increased morbidity andmortality, mostly due to cardiovascular complications.Plasma thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) antigen levels are associated with coagulation/fibrinolysis and inflammation. Plasma TAFI may play a role in arterial thrombosis in cardiovascular diseases. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) antigen and homocysteine levels in patients with acromegaly and healthy control subjects.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Plasma TAFI antigen and homocysteine levels in 29 consecutive patients with acromegaly and 26 age-matched healthy control subjects were measured. All patients included in the study were in remission. The TAFIa/ai antigen in the plasma samples was measured using a commercially available ELISA kit.

RESULTS

Routine biochemical parameters, fasting blood glucose, prolactin, thyroid stimulating hormone, total-cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, and homocysteine levels were similar in the 2 groups (P > 0.05), whereas the plasma TAFI antigen levels were significantly elevated in the acromegalic patients (154.7 ± 94.0%) when compared with the control subjects (107.2 ± 61.6%) (P = 0.033). No significant correlation was identified by Pearson’s correlation test between the plasma TAFI antigen and homocysteine levels (r = 0.320, P = 0.250).

CONCLUSION

A significant alteration in the plasma TAFI antigen levels was detected in acromegaly. Increased plasma TAFI antigen levels might aggravate prothrombotic and thrombotic events in patients with acromegaly.