[Changes of thromboxane A2 (TXA2) and prostacyclin (PGI2) in COPD patients with pulmonary hypertension]

We measured the pulmonary arterial pressure and the level of Thromboxane A2 (TXA2), and Prostacyclin (PGI2) in 30 stable COPD patients and the level of TXA2 and PGI2 in 10 normal subjects so as to investigate the changes of TXA2 and PGI2 in COPD patients with pulmonary hypertension. The results showed that the level of TXA2 increased significantly in COPD patients with dominant and latent pulmonary hypertension when compared with that in normal subjects (P less than 0.001, less than 0.01), and the level of TXA2 in COPD patients with dominant pulmonary hypertension was also higher than that in COPD patients with latent pulmonary hypertension (P less than 0.02), but there was no difference in the level of PGI2 among normal subjects and COPD patients with or without pulmonary hypertension. This indicates that TXA2 plays an important role in causing pulmonary hypertension in COPD patients.