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von Willebrand factor is an acute phase reactant in man

B E Pottinger1, R C Read, E M Paleolog

  • 1Section of Vascular Biology, MRC Clinical Research Centre, Harrow, U.K.

Thrombosis Research
|February 15, 1989
PubMed

Plasma von Willebrand factor antigen (vWfAg) concentrations in 19 patients with acute infectious illnesses of bacterial, viral or parasitic origin were significantly elevated with a mean greater than 3-fold above normal. In individual patients the elevation of vWf correlated strongly with the elevation of serum C-reactive protein (CRP). When patients were studied longitudinally, vWfAg and CRP concentrations both returned to normal values over 3-4 weeks. Similarly, in 14 volunteers infected with cold virus, vWfAg and CRP levels rose significantly and fell together during the course of infection. VWf is thus an acute phase reactant in man.

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