The influence of age, gender and ABO blood group on soluble endothelial cell markers and adhesion molecules

The influence of age, gender and ABO blood group on soluble adhesion molecules and markers of endothelial function were tested by measurement of levels of von Willebrand factor, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), P-selectin, E-selectin and thrombomodulin in venous blood from healthy subjects. Only VCAM-1 showed a significant multivariate correlation with age (r=0.2, P=0.019), and thrombomodulin (P=0.0001) and E-selectin (P=0.026) were lower in the women. Significant differences between ABO blood groups were found for von Willebrand factor (P=0.024, E-selectin (P<0.001) and thrombomodulin (P<0.001). As these three are all specific endothelial products, our findings may have implications for vascular biology.