Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypercoagulability in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients increases their risk of cardiovascular diseases. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to investigate the hypercoagulation mechanism in T2DM patients in terms of circulating tissue factor (TF). METHODS: Whole blood coagulation tests by damped oscillation rheometry and dielectric blood coagulometry (DBCM) were performed. RESULTS: The average coagulation time was significantly shorter for T2DM patients than for healthy controls. In vitro addition of either anti-TF or anti-activated factor VII (FVIIa) antibody to hypercoagulable blood samples prolonged coagulation times for one group of patients, while coagulation times remained short for another group. The levels of circulating TF were estimated in the former group by measuring the coagulation times for blood samples from healthy subjects with addition of various concentrations of TF and comparing them with the coagulation times for the group. The results indicated that the levels of circulating TF were on the order of subpicomolar at most. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating TF is at least partially responsible for a hypercoagulable group of T2DM patients, while an abnormality in the intrinsic coagulation pathway probably occurs in the other group.