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Soluble endothelial cell protein C receptor and thrombomodulin levels after renal transplantation

  • Nephrology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Background

Both thrombomodulin (TM) and endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) are candidate biomarkers of endothelial damage and have a role of anti-thrombotic defense mechanism in vascular structure. In this study, we aimed to investigate soluble EPCR (sEPCR), soluble TM (sTM) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels in hemodialysis (HD) and renal transplant (RTx) recipients.

Methods

Twenty-seven RTx recipients and 15 HD patients were recruited to the study. RTx recipients were evaluated before and 3 months after transplantation. Plasma sEPCR, sTM and TNF-alpha levels were measured at baseline and 3 months later in both groups. Moreover, 27 healthy subjects were evaluated regarding sEPCR.

Results

At baseline, there was no difference in sTM, sEPCR, TNF-alpha and C-reactive protein (CRP) between the groups. In paired analysis, sEPCR (266 ± 132 to 117 ± 72 ng/ml), sTM (635 ± 165 to 100 ± 41 ng/ml) and TNF-alpha (11.2 ± 4.3 to 6.0 ± 3.5 pg/ml) were significantly decreased in RTx patients (P < 0.0001) at 3 months, while there was no change in the HD group. In the healthy subjects, sEPCR was found to be 79 ± 26 ng/ml at baseline, which was lower than in both groups.

Conclusions

We showed that the recently proposed endothelial damage biomarkers, sTM and sEPCR, are elevated in HD patients and significantly decrease after kidney transplantation.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Ankara University Scientific Research Project.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nephrology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ibni Sina Hospital, Ankara, Turkey

    Kenan Keven, Semiha Elmaci, Sule Sengul, Sehsuvar Erturk & Bulent Erbay

  2. Department of Pediatrics-Molecular Pathology and Genetics, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Nejat Akar & Yonca Egin

  3. Department of Surgery, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Volkan Genc

Authors
  1. Kenan Keven
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  2. Semiha Elmaci
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  3. Sule Sengul
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  7. Sehsuvar Erturk
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  8. Bulent Erbay
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Correspondence to Kenan Keven.

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Keven, K., Elmaci, S., Sengul, S. et al. Soluble endothelial cell protein C receptor and thrombomodulin levels after renal transplantation. Int Urol Nephrol 42, 1093–1098 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-009-9654-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-009-9654-6

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