Journal of Hematology & Thromboembolic Diseases
Open Access

Abstract

Von Willebrand Factor: A Novel Marker of Endothelial Dysfunction in Clinical Hyperthyroidism Patients

Mohammed AL-Nuzaily, Lutfi AL-Maktri, Saleh Bamashmoos, Samir Taresh and Faisal Ali

Hyperthyroidism is associated with altered endothelial dysfunction and increased risk of arterial thromboembolism and cardiovascular disease. Von Willebrand factor (vWF) is a marker of endothelial dysfunction. There is controversy in reports that have been published concerning the concentrations of vWF in hyperthyroidism. The aim of this study was to investigate the plasma vWF levels in clinical hyperthyroid patients, as well as its relationship to thyroid hormones fT3, fT4 and TSH compared to control subjects. In this study forty recently diagnosed, non-treated clinical hyperthyroid patients (f=37, m=3) and twenty normal volunteers control (f=18, m=2) were included, and subjected to determination of plasma vWF by ELISA technique and serum fT3, fT4 and TSH by Elecsys cobas e 601 analyzer. The data was statistically analysed by SPSS-10 and p values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Our results showed that there were a significant increase of vWF, fT4 and fT3 levels by 100%, 285% and 100%, respectively, and a significant decrease of TSH levels by 12.9-folds in hyperthyroid patients than in control group. For vWF (mean ± SD, 252.2 ± 66.4 vs 126.4 ± 29.9%, repectively; p=0.001). vWF was significantly positively correlated with fT4 and negatively correlated with TSH. In conclusion, we confirmed that hyperthyroidism was associated with increased vWF levels, a novel marker of endothelial dysfunction, FT4 levels being a predictive of vWF levels. Endothelial dysfunction could contribute to higher risk for thromboembolic and cardiovascular disease.