Procoagulant tissue factor activity on microparticles is associated with disease severity and bacteremia in febrile urinary tract infections

Abstract Introduction Inhibition of tissue factor, the primary initiator of coagulation in sepsis, attenuates morbidity in primates infused with Escherichia coli . In a human endotoxemia model, microparticles expressing procoagulant TF (MP-TF) are released in blood concurrently with markers of inflammation and coagulation. We investigated whether the release of MP-TF into blood is accompanied by procoagulant and inflammatory changes in patients with E. coli urinary tract infection. Materials and methods In a multicenter cohort study, we determined clinical disease severity using APACHE II scores and measured plasma MP-TF activity, TAT, sE-selectin, sVCAM-1, procalcitonin and monocyte count in blood of 215 patients with community-acquired febrile E. coli urinary tract infections. Results Plasma MP-TF activity on admission corresponded with clinical disease severity (APACHE II score; P =  0.006) and correlated significantly but weakly with plasma markers of disease severity (sE-selectin, sVCAM-1, procalcitonin). Additionally, median plasma MP-TF activity was higher in patients than in healthy controls (197 vs. 79 fM Xa/min; P r s -0.22; P  = 0.016) and a weak correlation with TAT ( r s 0.23, P  = 0.017). After 3 days of antibiotic treatment, upon resolution of the infection, plasma MP-TF activity and TAT concentrations declined. Conclusions Microparticle-associated procoagulant tissue factor activity is related to disease severity and bacteremia in febrile E. coli UTI patients and may contribute to the prothrombotic state in gram-negative sepsis.