Plasma levels of von Willebrand factor, endothelin-1, prostacyclin and thromboxane in children from families with high risk of premature coronary artery disease

The aim of the study was to assess the plasma levels of endothelial injury markers in children from families with high risk of premature coronary hear t disease (CHD) without other common CHD risk factors (hyperlipidaemia, obe sity, hypertension, low physical activity). The study comprised 48 children , including 24 children from high-risk families (HR), according to the NCEP (National Cholesterol Education Programme) criteria: one or two parents ha d clinical manifestation of cardiovascular disease before the age of 65 yea rs (mother) or 55 years (father). The control group included 24 healthy chi ldren with no familial history of cardiovascular disease. All the children were normolipidaemic according to the NCEP and the European Atherosclerosis Society criteria for children aged 2-19 years. In the HR group, the concen tration of vWf was significantly elevated in comparison to that in the cont rol group (p <0.0001). Plasma concentrations of ET-1 and TxB(2) did not dif fer significantly between the HR group and the controls. Plasma concentrati ons of the 6-ketoPGF(1 alpha) in the HR group and in the respective age and gender HR subgroups were significantly lower compared with those of the co ntrol group (p <0.00005). Concentration of vWf in the HR group was negative ly correlated with the concentration of 6-ketoPCF(1 alpha) (r = -0.47; p < 0.05) and positively correlated with TxB(2) (r=0.39; p <0.01). In a logisti c regression analysis, we found that the 6-ketoPGF(1 alpha) concentration i n the lower quartile (< 16.1 pmol/L) was associated with a 3.4-fold odds of inclusion in the high-risk group versus the upper quartile (> 23.0 pmol/l) .