Correlation between thrombomodulin and severe preeclampsia: a summary

Thrombomodulin is a critical cofactor in the initiation of the protein C anticoagulant pathway. Plasma levels of thrombomodulin are regulated on a genetic basis, but more important is the dependence on a series of other atherosclerotic risk factors, such as hypertriglyceridemia, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. There is considerable controversy regarding the clinical role of thrombomodulin level as a risk factor of severe preeclampsia. A retrospective analysis of recent reports on the thrombomodulin level and its correlation to preeclampsia was performed to assess the correlation between the pattern of thrombomodulin level and preeclampsia. From the available 4 case-control studies, 149 patients and 120 controls are evaluated. The overall average thrombomodulin level for the patients and controls is 66.7+/-11.9 ng/mL and 45.7+/-7.3 ng/mL, respectively, which is significantly higher in patients than in controls (P< .05). In addition, the author reports a significant correlation between population ethnicity and thrombomodulin level (r= .96; P< .05).