Serum macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) level is elevated in patients with old cerebral infarction related to vascular damage.
We measured the serum levels of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) in 37 patients with an old cerebral infarction who had been surmised to have a damaged vessel wall and who had been in a stable condition for over three months after stroke onset, and those of 41 healthy control subjects. The M-CSF levels in the patients were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than those of the controls at 1320.4 +/- 410.6 unit/ml and 853.9 +/- 180.3 unit/ml, respectively. The plasma levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF) antigen (P < 0.01) and thrombomodulin (TM) (P < 0.05), as well as those of thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) complex (P < 0.05), prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2) (P < 0.02), D-dimer products of crosslinked fibrin degradation products (D-dimer) (P < 0.01), and plasmin-antiplasmin (PAP) complex (P < 0.05) in the patients were also significantly higher than those in the controls. Significant positive correlations (P < 0.01) were found between these parameters and the M-CSF level, but there was no significant correlation between the M-CSF level and the white blood cell count, serum lipids, or blood pressure. Based on these results, we suggest that an increased M-CSF level indicates vascular damage or a thrombotic state in patients with an old cerebral infarction.