Clinical significance of plasma D-dimer and von Willebrand factor levels in patients with ulcer colitis

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the levels of D-dimer (DD) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) and the relationship between DD and vWF in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. Methods: A total of 29 plasma specimens were obtained from patients with ulcerative colitis (male 13, female 16), aged 21-47 years (33 ± 11). Disease activity was assessed by Truelove-Writeria. Patients with a score of above 5 were regarded as having active colitis. Twenty healthy people (male 12, female 8), aged 19-53 years (31 ± 14), served as normal controls. Blood samples were taken from an antecubital vein puncture. Blood (1.8 mL) was injected into the tubes containing sodium citrate (0.13 mmol/L). The plasma was obtained by centrifugation at 3000 r.min-1 for 10 min, and stored at -80 °C until assayed by ELISA. Results: The mean plasma levels of DD and vWF in active UC patients were significantly higher than those of the controls (0.69 ± 0.41 vs 0.27 ± 0.11, P < 0.01; 143 ± 46 vs 103 ± 35, P < 0.01). The mean plasma levels of DD in the patients with active disease were higher than those with inactive disease (0.69 ± 0.41 vs 0.48 ± 0.29, P < 0.05). The levels of vWF were not different between active and inactive patients. DD levels were positively related to vWF levels (r = 0.574, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between levels of DD and vWF and the scope of disease and sex of the patients. Conclusion: vWF is an important feature and a good marker of UC; intravascular thrombus and endothelial cell dysfunction were found in UC patients; and the combined test of DD and vWF is helpful to distinguish the activity of the UC patients.