Application of thrombin-antithrombin III complex for detecting a latent hypercoagulable state in patients with coronary artery disease.

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Abstract
It is thought that a hypercoagulable state contributes to the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD), but few sensitive markers have been available for detecting the state. In the present study the plasma level of thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT), a specific indicator of thrombin generation in blood, was investigated before and after a submaximal exercise test in 18 patients with CAD and in 12 healthy controls. The mean (.+-. SEM) value of plasma TAT before the exercise was 3.30 (0.81) ng/ml in the patient group and 1.49 (0.08) ng/ml in controls, and its level increased to 29.22 (5.74) ng/ml and 12.07 (2.89) ng/ml after the exercise, respectively. Thus, the TAT value in the patient group was higher than that in the control both before and after the exercise. However, no differences could be found between the groups in the following parameters; prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, antithrombin III, fibrinogen, FDP, plasminogen, .alpha.2-plasmin inhibitor, and .alpha.2-macroglobulin. Through these results it was concluded that plasma TAT level could be a sensitive marker for latent activation of blood coagulation, and also that the results of these experiments showed that patients with CAD were in a latent hypercoagulable state.