Coagulation activation in type 2 diabetes mellitus: the higher coronary risk of female diabetic patients.

Thrombophilia in diabetic patients is a well-recognized phenomenon which constitutes an additional risk of coronary heart disease. This study included 1980 ethnic Chinese people (835 male, 1145 female); age range: 45 to 69 years, including 280 Type 2 diabetic patients (male 125, female 155). Haemostatic parameters measured were fibrinogen, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), factor VIIc, factor VIIIc, antithrombin III, and plasminogen. Compared with a control group, male diabetic patients showed significantly shorter APTT (25.6 +/- 3.7 vs 27.5 +/- 3.6 s, p < 0.001), and elevated factor VIIIc (171.1 +/- 77.48 vs 131.16 +/- 52.23%, p < 0.0001), whereas female diabetic patients showed significantly shorter APTT (24.9 +/- 4.2 vs 26.5 +/- 3.9 s, p < 0.001) and elevated fibrinogen (10.6 +/- 3.3 vs 9.8 +/- 2.6 mumol 1(-1), p < 0.05), factor VIIc (150.4 +/- 68.7 vs 135.3 +/- 32.3%, p < 0.001), factor VIIIc (190.1 +/- 92.6 vs 141.1 +/- 62.4%, p < 0.0001), and plasminogen (140.3 +/- 41.9 vs 128.4 +/- 38.7%, p < 0.01). This study showed that Chinese diabetic patients had coagulation activation, and that female diabetic patients seemed to constitute a higher risk group for coronary heart disease than males.