Blood levels of endothelin-1 and thrombomodulin in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation and sepsis.

We evaluated the roles of plasma endothelin-1 and plasma thrombomodulin in the development of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in patients with sepsis. Plasma endothelin-1 was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Plasma thrombomodulin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and serum protein C (protein C) was measured by the synthetic substrate method. Endotoxin was measured by the Endospecy test, a synthetic substrate method. A new perchloric acid method was used for the pretreatment of plasma. Blood levels of endothelin-1 and thrombomodulin were significantly higher in patients with DIC than in those without DIC (p < 0.0001). Endothelin-1 and thrombomodulin levels were positively correlated (r = 0.8645, p = 0.0001), as were endothelin-1 and TNF-alpha levels (r = 0.5441, p = 0.0002). Thrombomodulin and protein C levels were negatively correlated (r = -0.5627, p = 0.0001). Endotoxin was elevated above the normal level 14.3% (6/42) for these patients. TNF-alpha is involved in the production of endothelin-1 and thrombomodulin, which play a role in the pathogenesis of DIC and whose blood levels reflect its severity.