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Biomedical subjects

D A Triplett

Publications and source records attributed to D A Triplett.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 measures treatment effect in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is characterized by recurrent thrombosis. The anticoagulant management of APS thrombosis remains controversial. Few reports on markers of in vivo activation of coagulation have been reported. To determine whether plasma levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 +2) correlate with thrombotic risk and treatment effect in patients with APS, plasma F1 + 2 levels were followed in 57 patients with this syndrome for more than 2 years. Clinical findings were also observed in these patients. Plasma levels of F1 + 2 in patients with APS were significantly higher when compared with control subjects (p<.05). These results suggest patients with APS are in a hypercoagulable state. Plasma levels of F1 + 2 significantly decreased following treatment with either aspirin, or aspirin plus warfarin (p<.05 and p<.01, respectively). Recurrent thromboses or spontaneous abortions occurred in all eight patients whose plasma levels of F1 + 2 remained higher than 1 nmol/l after treatment with either aspirin alone or no anticoagulants. These patients were subsequently treated with warfarin as well as aspirin, and plasma levels of F1 + 2 decreased to less than 1 nmol/l, with no additional thrombotic events over the remainder of the 2-year follow-up. No fatal bleeding was observed in treated patients. Our results suggest plasma levels of F1 + 2 are useful indicators of successful treatment. It is also suggested that warfarin plus mini-dose aspirin therapy is effective for patients with APS to protect from recurrent thromboses without harmful side effects. Further, prospective cohort studies are needed to substantiate these associations.

Antiphospholipid Syndrome↗

The preoperative bleeding time test lacks clinical benefit: College of American Pathologists' and American Society of Clinical Pathologists' position article.

The major conclusions of this position article are as follows: (1) In the absence of a history of a bleeding disorder, the bleeding time is not a useful predictor of the risk of hemorrhage associated with surgical procedures. (2) A normal bleeding time does not exclude the possibility of excessive hemorrhage associated with invasive procedures. (3) The bleeding time cannot be used to reliably identify patients who may have recently ingested aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents or those who have a platelet defect attributable to these drugs. The best preoperative screen to predict bleeding continues to be a carefully conducted clinical history that includes family and previous dental, obstetric, surgical, traumatic injury, transfusion, and drug histories. A history suggesting a possible bleeding disorder may require further evaluation; such an evaluation may include performance of the bleeding time test, as well as a determination of the platelet count, the prothrombin time, and the activated partial thromboplastin time. In the absence of a history of excessive bleeding, the bleeding time fails as a screening test and is, therefore, not indicated as a routine preoperative test.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗

Current recommendations for warfarin therapy. Use and monitoring.

With the aging population, the use of warfarin will continue to increase. The introduction of new thromboplastins with International Sensitivity Indices (ISI) of 1.0 to 1.5 has improved the efficacy of monitoring warfarin therapy with the prothrombin time (PT). Increasingly, outpatient oral anticoagulant clinics and home testing are the sites for PT monitoring.

Administration, Oral↗

Many faces of lupus anticoagulants.

Lupus anticoagulants (LA) are immunoglobulins which inhibit one or more of the in-vitro phospholipid (PL) dependent tests of coagulation. Virtually any physician may encounter LA-positive patients. Such patients present with a variety of diagnostic challenges including arterial and venous thromboembolic events, recurrent fetal loss, TIAs, livedo reticularis, etc. LA and anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) are the most common cause of acquired thrombophilia. Consequently, it is imperative for clinicians and laboratorians to work together in establishing the diagnosis of LA/ACA. The laboratory diagnosis of LA requires careful adherence to the SSC Subcommittee on Lupus Anticoagulants/Phospholipid-dependent Antibodies guidelines. Four sequential steps are required, including: screening tests, mixing studies (to establish the presence of an inhibitor), confirmatory tests based on increased or altered PL concentrations, and ruling out other coagulopathies (for example, factor VIII inhibitor).

Adult↗

College of American Pathologists Conference XXXI on laboratory monitoring of anticoagulant therapy: laboratory monitoring of oral anticoagulant therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To review the state of the art of laboratory monitoring of oral anticoagulant therapy, as reflected by the medical literature and the consensus opinion of recognized experts in the field, and to make recommendations for improvement in laboratory monitoring of oral anticoagulant therapy. DATA SOURCES: Review of the medical literature, primarily from the last 10 years, and current laboratory practices by a panel of 8 international experts in the field of oral anticoagulant monitoring. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: After an initial assessment of the literature, key points were identified. Experts were assigned to do an in-depth review of the literature and current practices relevant to each of the key points and to prepare a summary of their findings and recommendations. A draft manuscript was prepared and circulated to every participant in the College of American Pathologists Conference XXXI on Laboratory Monitoring of Anticoagulant Therapy prior to the conference. Each of the key points and associated recommendations was then presented for discussion at the Conference. Recommendations were accepted if a consensus of the 26 experts attending the Conference was reached. The results of the discussion were used to revise the manuscript into its final form. CONCLUSIONS: Consensus was reached on 12 recommendations concerning the laboratory monitoring of oral anticoagulant therapy. Detailed discussion of the rationale for each of these recommendations is found in the text of this article. Discussion of points on which consensus was not reached is also included in the text. It is hoped that widespread adoption of these recommendations will further improve the laboratory monitoring of oral anticoagulant therapy.

Administration, Oral↗

[A study on antiprothrombin antibodies in antiphospholipid syndrome].

In this study we investigated the frequency and the type of manifestations of antiprothrombin antibodies (aFII) in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). In 16 (84.2%) of 19 patients with lupus anticoagulant (LA) and either anticardiolipin antibodies or antiphosphatidylserine antibodies, two types of abnormal patterns were shown on a crossed immuno-electrophoresis technique using anti-human prothrombin murine IgG. The slow-moving peak of prothrombin was detected in 8 patients, while a peak in the other patients had the slow-moving shoulder. These slow-moving materials might represent prothrombin-aFII complexes. In 13 patients who were studied on Western blots, IgGs of 11 patients (84. 6%) bound to human purified prothrombin, and the IgGs of 7 (53.8%) of these patients also bound to human purified alpha-thrombin. Our results indicate that aFII detected in patients with APS may explain part of the mechanism of LA.

Adolescent↗

APC-resistance as measured by a Textarin time assay: comparison to the APTT-based method.

Protein C is a major regulatory protein critical to physiologic anticoagulation. When activated, it selectively degrades the activated forms of factors V and VIII, thereby, down-regulating blood coagulation. Using an activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) assay, Dahlback et al. recently reported that some individuals with thrombophilia show a poor in vitro anticoagulant response to activated protein C (APC-Resistance). Subsequent studies identified a point mutation in the gene for factor V as the underlying cause of APC-Resistance. The incidence of APC-Resistance in patients with recurrent thromboembolic events approaches 50%. The APC-Resistance phenotype is also present in approximately 5% of normal Caucasian subjects. In an attempt to develop a more sensitive and specific test system, we evaluated an assay based on Textarin(Pentapharm, Basel, Switzerland). Textarin, a protein fraction of Pseudonaja textilis venom (Australian Eastern Brown Snake) activates prothrombin in the presence of phospholipid (PL), factor V and calcium ions. Based on Textarin's requirement for factor V, we developed a Textarin time assay to test for APC-Resistance. We evaluated this test system in normal subjects and the following patient populations: stable orally anticoagulated, previously diagnosed factor V Leiden, and therapeutically heparinized samples. We found the Textarin assay to be a sensitive and specific test system to identify APC-Resistance. The phenotypic Textarin APC-Resistance test correlated more closely with the genotypic abnormality of factor VR506Q than the APTT-APC-Resistance test.

Anticoagulants↗

Human beta2-glycoprotein I as an anticardiolipin cofactor determined using mutants expressed by a baculovirus system.

beta2-Glycoprotein I (beta2-GPI) consists of five repeats of a homologous domain. We designed a series of human beta2-GPI mutant genes, ie, three mutant genes lacking the domain(s) present in the NH2-terminal region and two of those present in the COOH-terminal region. These mutant genes were expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda insect cells (Sf9) infected with recombinant baculoviruses and the mutant proteins were secreted into the culture medium. The molecular mass of the purified mutant proteins, estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was fairly consistent with the size calculated from their nucleotide sequences. Binding of beta2-GPI to solid-phase cardiolipin (CL) was diminished by the deletion of the fifth domain (domain V) from its complete structure. Thus, the phospholipid binding site of beta2-GPI is located on its domain V. Monoclonal anti-CL antibodies (aCL) derived either from NZW x BXSB (WB) F1 mice or from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome bound directly to the domain V-deleted mutant protein (DI-IV) absorbed not only on an oxygenated but also on a plain polystyrene surface. We conclude from this study that the epitope for aCL is exposed on a conformationally changed structure of beta2-GPI by interacting with negatively charged phospholipid or on the mutant protein, DI-IV.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Antiphospholipid-protein antibodies: clinical use of laboratory test results (identification, predictive value, treatment).

Antiphospholipid-protein antibodies (APA) are a family of immunoglobulins which recognize protein-phospholipid complexes. Among the proteins implicated are: beta 2 Glycoprotein I, prothrombin, Annexin V, protein C, and protein S. Laboratory tests are used to identify, predict potential clinical complications, and manage patients with the antiphospholipid-protein syndrome (APS). Emerging evidence suggests laboratory tests can be used to stratify relative risk of patients with APA.

Antibodies, Antiphospholipid↗

Lupus anticoagulants/antiphospholipid-protein antibodies: the great imposters.

Antiphospholipid-protein antibodies (APA) represent a family of immunoglobulins which recognize protein-phospholipid complexes. A variety of proteins have been implicated including: prothrombin, annexin V, beta 2-Glycoprotein I, and protein S. APA are detected utilizing either coagulation-based tests to identify lupus anticoagulants (LA) or solid phase ELISA assays to identify anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA). APA may be seen in a variety of different clinical settings including convalescence from infections, resulting from exposure to certain drugs, or in association with autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune APA have been linked to a variety of thromboembolic complications involving both arterial and venous sites. In addition, recurrent fetal loss has been linked to a APA. The underlying pathophysiology of the thromboembolic events remains controversial. Given the diversity of anatomic sites, more than one thromboembolic mechanism(s) is likely. Abnormalities of the protein C system most likely account for the venous thromboembolic events. Because of the spectrum of clinical complications, virtually any clinician may encounter patients with the APA syndrome (thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, recurrent fetal loss coupled with positive LA or ACA testing).

Antibodies, Antiphospholipid↗

The value of plasma calibrants in correcting coagulometer effects on international normalized ratios. An international multicenter study.

A study of lyophilized plasma calibrants in correcting for coagulometer effects on International Normalized Ratios (INR) has been conducted in an international survey. Prothrombin times were performed with the calibrants on 2 "common" thromboplastins and in-house thromboplastins in 3 brands of coagulometer at 37 centers. The International Sensitivity Indices (ISI) of 95 local systems with the calibrants were derived. The "true" INR of 10 test plasmas from warfarin-treated patients were established centrally using thromboplastin International Reference Preparations (IRP). International Normalized Ratios of these plasmas for each center were calculated using both the manufacturers' stated and the local ISI. The mean deviation of the 95 systems from the "true" INR of the warfarin plasmas was +14.4% with the manufacturers' ISI, but reduced to +1.04% with the local ISI. Local ISI determination with the calibrants avoids many of the difficulties of conventional thromboplastin calibrations. Plasmas from patients on warfarin and parallel manual PT with thromboplastin IRP are not required.

Blood Coagulation Tests↗

A comparison of lyophilized artificially depleted plasmas and lyophilized plasmas from patients receiving warfarin in correcting for coagulometer effects on international normalized ratios.

The comparative value of lyophilized artificially depleted plasmas and plasmas from warfarin-treated patients in local (thromboplastin/coagulometer) system International Sensitivity Indices (ISI) determination has been studied at 39 centers in an international collaborative study. At each center, both types of plasmas were tested with two common thromboplastins (low ISI RecombiPlasTin and high ISI OBT), and in-house reagents using three brands of coagulometers. In 95 local systems, they was agreement. With both thromboplastins, coagulometers lowered the ISI from the manual or stated ISI with all systems. Differences between the two types of lyophilized plasmas with the two common thromboplastins were not of clinical importance. Artificially depleted plasmas are easier to obtain in sufficient volumes than plasma from warfarin-treated patients, and more easily provide the wide range of INR values required for reliable local ISI calibration. The agreement between the two types of lyophilized calibrant is reassuring.

Blood Coagulation Tests↗