Coagulation Factor VII and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Healthy Men

Abstract

Numerous investigations have demonstrated the role of thrombus formation in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD). A tendency to thrombosis may also be indicated by elevated levels of coagulation factor VII clotting activity (FVIIc). Significant associations of FVIIc with increased coronary risk, however, have been found only in the Northwick Park Heart Study. Here we present the results of the 8-year follow-up of FVIIc measurements in 2780 healthy men of the Prospective Cardiovascular Münster study. In the study population (age at entry, 49.3 +/- 6.1 years, mean +/- SD), 130 CHD events occurred during follow-up. FVIIc was significantly higher in subjects with coronary events than in those without (112.4 +/- 20.1% vs 108.7 +/- 21.4%, P = .023). Compared with individuals without coronary events, FVIIc was not significantly higher in men with nonfatal events (111.7 +/- 20.4%; P = .196, n = 93), but there was a tendency toward higher FVIIc activity in subjects with fatal events (114.6 +/- 19.5%; P = .076, n = 37). In the multiple logistic regression analysis, we did not find FVIIc to be an independent risk factor for CHD, and the significance of FVIIc disappeared after total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides were taken into account. The increase in the number of CHD events through higher levels of FVIIc was more pronounced in the presence of additional cardiovascular risk factors: smoking; myocardial infarction events in family; angina pectoris; high levels of fibrinogen, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides; and a low level of HDL cholesterol. We conclude that FVIIc is a risk factor for CHD, especially in the presence of additional risk factors, and must be taken into account when assessing cardiovascular risk in men.

Prevalence of Insulin Resistance Syndrome in Southwestern France and Its Relationship With Inflammatory and Hemostatic Markers

“…Still, our findings indicate a possible association between IRS and increased endothelial cell activation, namely mediated by sICAM and sVCAM levels, which could also mediate the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease in this group. FVIIa is produced after activation of FVII by tissue factor and is a marker of the activation status of this tissue factor coagulation pathway when detected in vivo; increased levels of FVIIc also have been shown to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease (30). In this study, increased FVIIc and FVIIa levels were found in both men and women with IRS, indicating a possible procoagulant status associated with IRS.…”

Fibrinogen Independently Predicts the Development of Ischemic Stroke in a Taiwanese Population

“…For example, the ARIC study 18 did not find factor VII associated with CHD events. In contrast, the Northwick Park Heart Study 21 and Prospective Cardiovascular Munster (PROCAM) study 22 reported a strong positive association between factor VII and CHD events. Nonetheless, most studies have shown that factor VII is not associated with all events of stroke 4,5 and IS.…”

Meta-analysis of the effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on haematological and thrombogenic factors in type 2 diabetes

“…The increase of coagulant factor VII observed in this review may be due to chance but might indicate an adverse effect of n-3 PUFA. This requires further research as increased plasma activity of factor VIIc is associated with CHD risk factors such as hypertriacylglycerolaemia, reduced glucose tolerance, overweight and hyperinsulinaemia, but may also be an independent risk factor for CHD [66][67][68], and higher levels were observed in healthy subjects with coronary events [69]. However, the independent association with CHD was not shown in another cohort study [70].…”