The behavior of the fibrinogen polymerization curve in hypercholesterolemic subjects

: Several epidemiological and clinical studies performed in subjects with risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular events, have shown changes in plasma levels and/or activities of coagulation factors that could suggest a prothrombotic state. We studied the behaviour of the fibrinogen polymerization curve (FPC), a spectrophotometric technique evaluating the kinetics of fibrinogen transformation into fibrin, in 68 subjects with and without hypercholesterolemia. Significant differences were found between FPCs of subjects with serum cholesterol > 240 mg/dl and < or = 240 mg/dl respectively. In fact, FPCs of the first group showed high reaction velocity rate, short latency time and higher optical density rate, final readings; besides, the behaviour of FPCs was not correlated to plasma fibrinogen concentrations. Therefore, FPC could be a useful test to identify a thrombophilic condition in hypercholesterolemic patients.