FACTOR-VII COAGULANT ACTIVITY IS RELATED TO BLOOD-LIPIDS IN THE ELDERLY - THE ROTTERDAM STUDY

Objective: To study the distribution of factor VII coagulant activity and its association to serum lipids in the elderly. Methods: The Rotterdam study is a single centre population based prospective cohort study among 7,983 subjects aged 55 years and over. Baseline measurements include assessment of factor VII activity, serum total and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Results: The results are based on the first 1,805 consecutive participants in which factor VIIc, and serum lipids were measured. We excluded 89 persons that were using anticoagulant drugs, leaving 604 men (mean age 70.5 years (SD 8.3) and 1,112 women (mean age 71.9 years (9.2)). Mean levels of cholesterol were 6.3 mmol/l (SD 1.2) and 6.8 mmol/l (1.2) and of HDL cholesterol were 1.2 mmol/l (0.3) and 1.4 mmol/l (0.3) in men and women, respectively. Factor VIIc was normally distributed with a mean of 101% (20) in men and 111% (20) in women. Factor VIIc was not associated with age, Linear regression analysis demonstrated that factor VIIc was positively and significantly associated with serum total cholesterol. An increase in total cholesterol of 1 mmol/l was associated with an increase in factor VIIc of 5% (SE 0.5). This association did not materially change after adjustment for age, smoking habit, and body mass index. A comparison of the relatively older age groups with the younger ones revealed similar associations. The magnitude of the association was the same in men and women. HDL cholesterol was not independently associated with factor VIIc. Conclusion: Factor VIIc increases with increasing cholesterol with the same strength in the elderly.