Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

Measurement of Factor V Activity in Human Plasma Using a Microplate Coagulation Assay
Published on: September 9, 2012
Epidemiology of fibrinogen
1Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
Abstract:
As evidence accumulates to implicate fibrinogen as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) it becomes important to characterize the levels and correlates of fibrinogen in diverse populations. Knowledge of the correlates of fibrinogen may help researchers to disentangle the independent contribution of elevated fibrinogen concentrations to CVD. Characterization of the normal range and possible determinants of fibrinogen concentrations, likewise, may aid CVD risk assessment and intervention research. Fibrinogen concentrations vary widely among populations and increase with age. Levels are consistently higher in women than men and rise after menopause. Smoking is the most important lifestyle correlate of fibrinogen. People with diabetes and hypertension have elevated fibrinogen levels, as do sedentary and obese individuals. Alcohol intake and oestrogen replacement therapy are associated with lower fibrinogen levels. Most other CVD risk factors are correlated positively with fibrinogen. Fibrinogen is clearly a marker of CVD risk. Yet, the strikingly non-specific pattern of higher fibrinogen with every CVD risk factor suggests that proving an independent causal role of fibrinogen will remain elusive in the absence of trials selectively lowering fibrinogen with the aim of reducing CVD.
Related Concept Videos
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
Anticoagulant Drugs: Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Pathways of Hemostasis
The Extrinsic Pathway
The extrinsic pathway of coagulation is typically initiated by tissue damage that exposes blood to tissue factor (TF), a protein released by the damaged tissue cells outside the blood vessels—this interaction with TF triggers biochemical reactions involving specific clotting factors. The key player here is Factor VII, which...
Clot Retraction and Fibrinolysis
Disorders of Hemostasis
Thromboembolic Disorders
Two factors primarily cause thromboembolic conditions.
Venous Thrombosis I: Introduction

