Fibrinogen, viscosity, and white blood cell count are major risk factors for ischemic heart disease. The Caerphilly and Speedwell collaborative heart disease studies.

Abstract

Methods and Results. The two studies have a common core protocol and are based on a combined cohort of 4,860 middle-aged men from the general population. The first follow-up was at a nearly constant interval of 5.1 years in Caerphilly and 3.2 years in Speedwell; 251 major IHD events had occurred. Age-adjusted relative odds of IHD for men in the top 20% of the distribution compared with the bottom 20% were 4.1 (95% confidence interval, 2.6-6.5) for fibrinogen, 4.5 (95% confidence interval, 2.8-7.4) for viscosity, and 3.2 (95% confidence interval, 2.0-4.9) for white blood cell count. Associations with IHD were similar in men who had never smoked, exsmokers, and current smokers, and the results suggest that at least part of the effect of smoking on IHD is mediated through fibrinogen, viscosity, and white blood cell count.Multivariate analysis shows that white blood cell count is an independent risk factor for IHD as is either fibrinogen or viscosity, or possibly both. Jointly, these three variables significantly improve the fit of a logistic regression model containing all the main conventional risk factors. Further, a model including age, smoking habits, fibrinogen, viscosity, and white blood cell count predicts IHD as well as one in which the three hemostatic/rheological variables are replaced by total cholesterol, diastolic pressure, and body mass index.Conclusion. Jointly, fibrinogen, viscosity, and white blood cell count are important risk factors for IHD. (Circulation 1991;83:836-844) N mumerous epidemiological studies1'2 have found raised blood pressure, elevated total cholesterol, and smoking to be major factors associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD). Nevertheless, on an individual basis, the prediction of the risk of IHD from levels of blood pressure, lipids, and smoking is poor.3 There is evidence4,5 that occlusive thrombi are to be found in almost all cases of acute myocardial infarction and in

Relationship Between Plasma Viscosity and the Severity of Coronary Heart Disease

“…1,2 In other studies, high plasma viscosity was shown to lead to an increased risk of acute MI in patients with unstable angina pectoris. 3,4 Furthermore, a relationship of an early increase in plasma viscosity during acute MI and reinfarction or death was shown.…”

The associations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and downstream inflammatory markers with risk of cardiovascular disease: The Caerphilly Study

“…Previous reports from the prospective Caerphilly Study have shown that circulating inflammatory markers including fibrinogen, plasma viscosity and leucocyte count [2,3]; C-reactive protein (CRP) [4]; and ␣1-antitrypsin and ␣2-macroglobulin [5] are associated with CHD risk. These results are consistent with recent meta-analyses of data from several prospective studies (including Caerphilly) for fibrinogen [6], plasma viscosity [7], leucocyte count [8] and CRP [9,10].…”

“…The aims of the present study were therefore to examine the associations of IL-6 with CHD and IS events, and to estimate the effect of these on the associations of several "downstream" inflammatory markers with CHD and IS, which were updated from our previous reports [2][3][4][5].…”

Body fat is the main predictor of fibrinogen levels in healthy non-obese men

“…[9][10][11] However, for many years, fibrinogen has been recognized as an important risk factor for cardiovascular events and several prospective epidemiological studies have documented an association between fibrinogen and future cardiovascular diseases, which is not substantially modified after multivariate adjustment for other risk factors. [12][13][14][15] The metabolic background of this strong relationship between fibrinogen levels and cardiovascular risk has not been fully elucidated, although a number of studies showed significant associations between fibrinogen and several other cardiovascular and hemostatic variables. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Unfortunately, measurements for fibrinogen were poorly standardized for some time, thereby limiting its wide adoption in the clinical setting.…”