[The behavior of the fibrinogen polymerization curve in hypercholesterolemic subjects]. / Comportamento della curva di polimerizzazione del fibrinogeno in soggetti ipercolesterolemici.

Several epidemiological and clinical studies performed in subjects with risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular events, have shown changes in plasma levels and/or activities of coagulation factors that could suggest a prothrombotic state. We studied the behaviour of the fibrinogen polymerization curve (FPC), a spectrophotometric technique evaluating the kinetics of fibrinogen transformation into fibrin, in 68 subjects with and without hypercholesterolemia. Significant differences were found between FPCs of subjects with serum cholesterol > 240 mg/dl and < or = 240 mg/dl respectively. In fact, FPCs of the first group showed high reaction velocity rate, short latency time and higher optical density rate, final readings; besides, the behaviour of FPCs was not correlated to plasma fibrinogen concentrations. Therefore, FPC could be a useful test to identify a thrombophilic condition in hypercholesterolemic patients.