Concentration of Endogenous tPA Antigen in Coronary Artery Disease Relation to Thrombotic Events, Aspirin Treatment, Hyperlipidemia, and Multivessel Disease

Abstract—Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the major plasminogen activator responsible for dissolving blood clots found in blood vessels. However, elevated concentrations of tPA antigen were found to be related to adverse events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Considerable controversy about the significance of these results exists. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to identify independent determinants for tPA antigen concentrations in patients with CAD, to possibly clarify the above paradoxical relationship. The baseline tPA antigen concentrations of 366 patients with angiographic evidence of coronary sclerosis were determined. Univariate analysis showed that age (P=0.013), angiographic extent of disease (P<0.001), presence of angina at rest (P<0.001), diabetes mellitus (P=0.004), hypercholesterolemia (P=0.045), hypertriglyceridemia (P=0.015), and chronic intake of nitrates (P<0.001) were significantly and positively related to tPA antigen concentration, while the chronic inta...