Cold-induced Increases in Erythrocyte Count, Plasma Cholesterol and Plasma Fibrinogen of Elderly People without a Comparable Rise in Protein C or Factor X

Abstract

1. Six elderly (66-71 years) and six young (20-23 years) subjects (half of each group women) were cooled for 2 h in moving air at 18°C to investigate possible causes of increased mortality from arterial thrombosis among elderly people in cold weather. Compared with thermoneutral control experiments, skin temperature (trunk) fell from 35.5 to 29.5°C, with little change in core temperature. 2. Erythrocyte count rose in the cold from 4.29 to 4.69 × 1012/l, without a change in mean corpuscular volume, indicating a 14% or 438 ml decline in plasma volume; increased excretion of water, Na+ and K+ accounted for loss of only 179 ml of extracellular water. 3. Plasma cholesterol and fibrinogen concentrations rose in the elderly subjects from 4.9 mmol/l and 2.97 g/l (control) to 5.45 mmol/l and 3.39 g/l in the cold, and in the young subjects from 3.33 mmol/l and 1.84 g/l (control) to 3.77 mmol/l and 2.07 g/l in the cold. Increases were significant for the elderly subjects, the young subjects and the group as a whole, except for cholesterol in the young subjects, and all were close to those expected from the fall in plasma volume. 4. Plasma levels of Protein C and factor X did not increase significantly in the cold in the elderly subjects, young subjects, or the group as a whole. 5. The results suggest that loss of plasma fluid in the cold concentrates major risk factors for arterial thrombosis, while small molecules, including protective Protein C, redistribute to interstitial fluid.