A case control study on the structural equation model of the mechanism of coagulation and fibrinolysis imbalance in chronic schistosomiasis

A structural equation model was used for verification with chronic schistosomiasis to investigate the coagulation–anticoagulation system imbalance and to deduce the mechanism of D-dimer (D-D) level elevation in patients with advanced schistosome hepatic disease. We detected the plasma levels of tissue-type fiber plasminogen activator (tPA), urokinase type plasminogen activator (uPA), plasmin-antiplasmin complex (PAP), plasminogen (PLG), antithrombin (AT), plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI1), D-D, factor VIII: C (FVIII:C), antithrombin-III (AT-III), PLG, protein S (PS), and protein C (PC) in the healthy people as control (69), patients with chronic schistosomiasis (150) or advanced chronic schistosomiasis (90). FVIII, PAP, D-D, tPA, and uPA plasma levels were significantly higher in the chronic group than in the control group and were also significantly higher in the advanced group. However, AT-III, PC, PS, AT, PLG, and PAI1 plasma levels in the advanced and chronic groups were significantly lower than those in the control group. With progression of disease in patients with schistosomiasis japonica, a hypercoagulable state is induced by the coagulation–anticoagulation imbalance, eventually leading to patients with high levels of D-D. Furthermore, we established a structural equation model path of a “chronic schistosomiasis disease stage–(coagulation–anticoagulation–fibrinolysis)–D-D.” By using analysis of moment structures (AMOS), it was shown that the chronic schistosomiasis stage was positively related to factor VIII and had negative correlation with AT-III; a good positive correlation with PAP, tPA, and uPA; and a good negative correlation with PLG and PAI1. In addition, our results show that the path coefficient of anticoagulation–fibrinolysis system to the chronic stage of schistosomiasis or D-D levels was significantly higher than that of the coagulation system. In conclusion, the coagulation and fibrinolysis imbalance in patients with chronic schistosomiasis, especially with advanced schistosomiasis, is due to the progression of disease stages.