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Hypertension, aortic sclerosis and the prothrombotic state: understanding the complex interaction

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 23, pages 287–288 (2009)Cite this article

Thrombin is a multifunctional serine protease that is the ultimate clotting and platelet-activating enzyme. However, thrombin can act as a signalling molecule for many aspects of vascular biology, including vessel tone, cellular differential, migration and proliferation of smooth muscle cells and angiogenesis.1 Thrombin also participates in atherosclerosis in ways that do not directly involve the process of thrombus formation. Hence, there are several possible effects of thrombin in vascular wall biology, influencing both normal and pathologic vascular physiology.2 As thrombosis remains a major contributor to the morbidity and mortality of atherosclerotic disease, it would be useful in clinical practice to identify situations associated to a ‘prothrombotic state’.

In this issue of Journal of Human Hypertension, Iida et al.3 conducted an observational and prospective analysis of hypertensive patients with no history of cardiovascular disease, but where the presence of aortic valve sclerosis (AVS) using echocardiography was identified. These authors then report abnormalities in the levels of prothrombin F1+2 (a marker of thrombin generation) and fibrin D-dimer (a marker of fibrin formation), which were found to be greater in patients with AVS than in patients without this valve problem. Even after adjusting for age, gender and other variables, only prothrombin F1+2 remained associated.

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  1. Department of Cardiology, Hospital Univarsitario, Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain

    F Pastor-Pérez & F Marín

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Correspondence to F Marín.

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Pastor-Pérez, F., Marín, F. Hypertension, aortic sclerosis and the prothrombotic state: understanding the complex interaction. J Hum Hypertens 23, 287–288 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2008.103

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