Relationship between Plasma Fibrinogen Levels and Pulmonary Function in the Japanese Population: The Takahata Study

Background: Plasma fibrinogen is considered a biomarker of respiratory disease, owing to the relationship between plasma fibrinogen and pulmonary function established in Western populations. However, such a relationship has not yet been confirmed in an Asian population. We assessed this relationship in the general Japanese population. Methods: Totally, 3,257 men and women aged >= 40 years who participated in a community-based annual health checkup in Takahata, Japan, from 2004 to 2006, underwent spirometry, and their plasma fibrinogen levels were determined. Results: We found an inverse relationship between spirometric measures (percent predicted forced vital capacity [%FVC] and forced expiratory volume in 1s [%FEV1], and FEV1/FVC) and plasma fibrinogen levels in men, but not in women. The plasma fibrinogen levels were significantly higher in subjects with restrictive, obstructive, and mixed ventilatory disorders than in those with normal spirometry results. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that in men, plasma fibrinogen levels were predictive for %FVC and %FEV1 (independent of age, body mass index, and cigarette smoking) but not for FEV1/FVC. Conclusions: Plasma fibrinogen was significantly associated with pulmonary function in Japanese men, and as such, plasma fibrinogen might be a potent biomarker for pulmonary dysfunction in men.