Summary
Soluble adhesion molecules E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM) and
vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM) were measured alongside von Willebrand factor
(vWf) in 40 patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD), 43 with ischaemic heart
disease (IHD) and in equal numbers of age and sex matched asymptomatic controls. Increased
vWf was found in patients with IHD (p = 0.0008) and in patients with PVD (p = 0.0001)
relative to their respective controls but levels did not differ between the two patient
groups. Raised sICAM was found in both PVD (p = 0.0003) and IHD (p = 0.0059) compared
to their respective controls and was higher in PVD than in IHD (p = 0.0088). In the
subjects taken as a whole, there was no correlation between vWf and sICAM. Levels
of soluble E-sel-ectin and sVCAM did not differ in patients or controls. These data
suggest that soluble ICAM may be useful as an index of endothelial cell activation
in clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis.