The Role of Platelets and von Willebrand Factor in the Procoagulant Phenotype of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Although the risk of thrombosis is well documented for inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] patients, the underlying pathological mechanism seems to be different from other thrombotic conditions. Determining the factors responsible for the increased risk of thrombosis in IBD would help to improve the management of this frequent complication. We studied the interplay between platelets, coagulation, and von Willebrand factor [VWF] in 193 IBD patients and in experimental models [acute and chronic] of colitis in wild-type and VWF-deficient mice. We found a platelet-dependent increase in thrombin generation in IBD patients and in our mouse model of colitis. Agglutinated platelets were present in the blood of patients and mice. Interestingly, we observed not only a significant increase in total VWF antigen, but we were also able to detect the presence of active VWF [VWF in its platelet-binding conformation; 3.2 ± 2.7 μg/mL] in the plasma of 30% of all IBD patients. In healthy controls, active VWF levels were