Fibrinolysis factors and lipid composition of the blood in treated and untreated hypertensive patients.

The correlations between the cardiovascular risk factors hypertension, overweight, hyperlipidemia and fibrinolysis parameters were studied in a group of 54 otherwise healthy patients (age 19 to 70 years) with essential hypertension of moderate severity. Of the 54 patients 43 were treated with antihypertensive drugs and eleven were not. The patients included in this study who were treated with antihypertensive drugs were, in spite of their treatment, still hypertensive. Lipoprotein levels and fibrinolysis parameters did not differ between the untreated and treated patients. In the patient group we found significant incidence of hypertriglyceridemia (46%) elevated LDL-cholesterol (28%) and elevated lipoprotein (a) levels (43%). In comparison with a healthy control group the hypertensive patient group showed a decreased median tissue plasminogen activator activity (interquartile range): 0.23 (0.79) IU.10(3)/l vs 1.5 (0.47) IU.10(3)/l in the controls (p less than 0.0001), an increased tissue plasminogen activator antigen concentration: 8.2 (4.5) micrograms/l vs 5.1 (3.9) micrograms/l in the controls (p less than 0.0001), an elevated plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 level: 2.8 (2.5) AU.10(3)/l vs 1.1 (2.0) AU.10(3)/l in the controls (p less than 0.01) and a slightly increased alpha 2-antiplasmin concentration: 110 (8)% vs 98 (16)% in the controls (p less than 0.0001). Median D-dimer concentration levels were substantially increased in the hypertensive patients: 315 (263) micrograms/l vs 199 (146) micrograms/l in the controls (p less than 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)