Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2009) 20 P387

ECE2009 Poster Presentations Diabetes and Cardiovascular (103 abstracts)

Plasma thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) antigen levels in diabetic foot ulcers

Mehmet Erdogan 1 , Soner Solmaz 2 , Abdullah Canataroglu 2 , Mustafa Kulaksizoglu 3 , Sevki Cetinkalp 1 , Gokhan Ozgen 1 , Fusun Saygili 1 & Candeger Yilmaz 1


1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism Disease, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Numune Education and Research Hospital, Adana, Turkey; 3Department of Endocrinology, Numune Education and Research Hospital, Adana, Turkey.


Objective: Diabetic foot ulcer is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The most important factor related to the development of foot ulcer is peripheral neuropathy. Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is associated with coagulation, fibrinolysis and inflammation. Plasma TAFI may participate in arterial thrombosis in cardiovascular diseases (CVD). TAFI may be involved in the mechanism of vascular endothelial damage in diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of plasma TAFI antigen level in the development of diabetic foot ulcer in type 2 diabetes.

Research design and methods: The TAFI antigen levels were determined retrospectively in 50 patients with diabetic foot ulcers and 34 patients without diabetic foot ulcers and 25 healthy individuals. We measured TAFIa/ai antigen in plasma samples with a commercially available ELISA Kit.

Results: Diabetic foot ulcer group and diabetic group were similar in terms of mean age and sex distribution. Diabetes duration, retinopathy, neuropathy, macrovascular disease and infection were related to diabetic foot ulcers. HbA1c, HDL-Cholesterol and Folic Acid levels were decreased in the diabetic foot ulcer group. Vitamin B12, CRP and ESR were significantly increased in the diabetic foot ulcer group. TAFI levels were 99.44±55.94% in control group, 135.21±61.05% in diabetic foot ulcer group, 136.75±59.38% in diabetic group and was statistically different (P<0.05). But no difference was seen in TAFI levels between diabetic foot ulcer group and diabetic group (P>0.05). No significant difference in plasma TAFI levels were seen between diabetic foot ulcer stages.

Conclusions: TAFI antigen levels are increased in type 2 diabetic patients but are not related to diabetic foot ulcer development.

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