THBS1 and peripheral vascular disease: Elevated plasma TSP1 levels are correlated with vasoocclusive crises (Novelli et al., 2012) and peripheral vascular disease (Smadja et al., 2011); tissue TSP1 protein and mRNA levels are overexpressed in the leg muscles of patients with ischemic peripheral vascular disease (Favier et al., 2005), and single nucleotide polymorphisms of TSP1 and TSP4 are associated with higher rates of early myocardial infarction (Narizhneva et al., 2004; Stenina et al., 2005).