American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 132, No. 1: 41-46
Copyright © 1990 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
research-article |
HEMOSTATIC VARIABLES IN JAPANESE AND CAUCASIAN MEN
TISSUE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR, ANTITHROMBIN III, AND PROTEIN C AND THEIR RELATIONS TO CORONARY RISK FACTORS
1Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN
3Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Texas, Health Science Center at Houston Houston, TX
4Department of Epidemiology and Mass Examination, The Center for Adult Diseases Osaka, 1-3-3 Nakamichi, Higashinariku, Osaka 537, Japan
5Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
6Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tsukuba Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305, Japan
7Department of Public Health and Hygiene, Medical College of Oita 2-1506 Idaigaoka, Hasama-cho, Oita-gun, Oita 879-56, Japan
Reprint requests to Dr. Aaron Folsom, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1-210 Moos Tower, 515 Deleware Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Mortality rates of coronary heart disease are much lower in Japan than in the United States. The authors' previous report on coagulation factors showed that population levels of plasma fibrinogen and factor VII activity parallel this mortality difference. To investigate other hemostatic variables, the authors assessed indicators of fibrinolytic activity (tissue ptasminogen activator antigen) and coagulation inhibition (antithrombin III activity and protein C) in 136 men aged 34–55 years in four different samples: rural Japanese, urban Japanese, Japanese Americans, and Caucasian Americans. Mean tissue plasminogen activator antigen was higher in Caucasians and Japanese Americans than in rural and urban Japanese (p<0.01), while a contrasting trend in mean antithrombin III activity was suggested (p=0.10). No significant differences were observed in mean levels of protein C. After controlling for known coronary risk factors, mean levels of tissue plasminogen activator antigen remained significantly different across the four samples (p<0.01); mean antithrombin III activity was not different (p=0.23). Population differences in tissue plasminogen activator antigen parallel the coronary heart disease mortality difference between Japan and the United States. Although no definite evidence is available showing that tissue plasminogen activator antigen is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, the present study suggests a positive ecologic association between this hemostatic factor and coronary heart disease mortality.
antithrombin III; coronary disease; cross-cultural comparison; fibrinolysis; plasminogen activator, tissue-type; protein C
2Current address: Department of Epidemiology and Mass Examination, The Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka, 1-3-3 Nakamichi, Higashinariku, Osaka 537, Japan