Associations of coagulation parameters and thrombin generation potential with the incidence of type 2 diabetes: mediating role of glycoprotein acetylation

Hypercoagulability is characterized by abnormal elevations of coagulation factor levels and increased thrombin generation potential. Prior studies demonstrated links between impaired glucose metabolism, endothelial dysfunction, and hypercoagulability. However, the associations between hypercoagulability and incident type 2 diabetes as well as its underlying mechanism remain unclear. We aimed to assess the associations between coagulation parameters including coagulation factor (F) VIII, FIX, FXI, fibrinogen, thrombin generation potential (lag time, endogenous thrombin potential [ETP], peak, time-to-peak, velocity) and incident type 2 diabetes, and to study the underlying mechanism by examining the mediating role of glycoprotein acetylation (GlycA). In the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study, we applied a Cox Proportional-Hazards Model in 5718 participants after adjustment for confounders. We further conducted a mediation analysis investigating the mediation effect of GlycA on the observed associations. During a median follow-up of 6.7 years, 281 incident type 2 diabetes diagnoses were reported. Compared with the lowest quartile, hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of the highest quartile was 2.47 (1.48–4.14) for FIX, 1.37 (0.85–2.20) for FVIII, 1.11 (0.76–1.63) for FXI, 0.98 (0.65–1.48) for fibrinogen, 1.56 (1.07–2.28) for ETP, 1.84 (1.23–2.74) for peak, 1.59 (1.08–2.33) for velocity, 0.92 (0.62–1.38) for lag time, and 1.21 (0.86–1.70) for time-to-peak. GlycA mediated only a small proportion of all observed associations. In conclusion, elevated levels of coagulation factor and thrombin generation potential are associated with incident type 2 diabetes, suggesting the involvement of hypercoagulability in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.