Background: We investigated whether some endothelial, thrombotic, and antithrombotic markers differed between young (age <35 years) and elderly patients (age ≥60 years) who were candidates for coronary artery bypass grafting following the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Thirty patients <35 years of age (mean age 31.0±0.3 years) and 24 patients ≥65 years of age (mean age 66.3±1.6 years) were randomly selected among patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery. Twenty-four healthy volunteers (mean age 31.1±0.8 years) comprised the control group. The patients and the controls were examined in terms of age, gender, body mass index, smoking status, the presence of diabetes, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, a family history of premature CAD, and plasma levels of total cholesterol, high-density (HDL) and low-density (LDL) lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, protein C, protein S, resistance to activated protein C, antithrombin III, plasminogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor, von Willebrand factor, D-dimer, lupus anticoagulant, and coagulation factors F I, F II, F VII, F VIII, F IX, F XII, F XIII.

Results: Young patients exhibited significantly higher plasminogen activator inhibitor levels and a higher prevalence of family history of early onset CAD. Elderly patients had higher levels of von Willebrand factor and a higher prevalence of hypertension. Compared to the controls, both young and elderly patients had higher levels of LDL-C, F I, F XIII, and lupus antibody, and lower HDL-C levels. The other markers did not differ significantly between the groups.

Conclusions: Elevated levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor and a more pronounced family history of early onset CAD in young patients suggest increased prothrombotic activity and genetic susceptibility, respectively. On the other hand, elevated von Willebrand factor activity in elderly patients is suggestive of endothelial dysfunction.

Keywords : Age factors; biological markers/blood; coronary disease; risk factors