Dose antiplatelet agents; the relationship among side effects, and antithrombotic effectiveness.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Hirsh.
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A patient with medullary cystic disease presented with a combined tubular dysfunction, including severe salt wasting, renal tubular acidosis types I and IV, and marked aldosterone resistance. High-dose mineralocorticoid treatment partially corrected the defect in potassium excretion and did not affect natriuresis. Plasma aldosterone level was more than 30 times the upper normal level and was decreased but not normalized by captopril administration and volume expansion. The severe hemodynamic and metabolic consequences of these defects were corrected by renal transplantation.
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The effect of metabolic acidosis on the intestinal absorption of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P), plasma vitamin D metabolites and urinary excretion of Ca in adult rats treated with a small dose of 1,25(OH)2D3 were investigated. The rats in the experimental group received 1.8% ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) and a commercial chow, and their pair-fed controls received 0.45% NaCl. Both groups were given subcutaneously 1,25(OH)2D3. Intestinal absorption of Ca and P was measured by gut sac uptake of 45Ca and 32P. In the acidotic rats, duodenal, jejunal and ileal 45Ca uptake as well as jejunal and ileal 32P uptake were significantly increased. Plasma 1,25(OH)2D, 25(OH)D and 24,25(OH)2D were similar in both groups. 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment induced a greater calciuria in acidotic rats and increased their fractional excretion (FE) of Ca. An additional experiment showed increased 45Ca uptake by duodenum at a pH of 7.0 compared to pH 7.4. The present study suggests that NH4Cl-induced metabolic acidosis may enhance the effect of 1,25(OH)2D3 on intestinal absorption of Ca and P in the rat. However, the data from the study cannot exclude the possibility that acidosis may have a direct, vitamin D-independent effect on the intestine.
Tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is an effective thrombolytic agent in experimental animals and in humans. We have previously observed that the thrombolytic effect of t-PA persists beyond its time of clearance from the circulation and that wound bleeding induced by a high dose infusion of t-PA is delayed for at least one and a half hours after commencing the infusion. These observations suggest that improved thrombolysis may be obtained with t-PA by infusing a high dose over a short period of time. To test this hypothesis we compared the thrombolytic and hemorrhagic effects of t-PA infused over 240, 60, 30 and 15 minutes in the rabbit. A 4 hour infusion of 30,000 U/kg of t-PA produced 36% thrombolysis. The same dose of t-PA infused over 60, 30 and 15 minutes produced 87%, 88% and 96% thrombolysis, respectively (p less than 0.01). The 1 hour infusion of 30,000 U/kg of t-PA produced a significant increase in blood loss relative to saline infusion (p less than 0.01). The same dose infused over 30 and 15 minutes did not produce significantly more bleeding than saline. A higher dose of t-PA, 60,000 U/kg, infused over 4 hours, produced 95% thrombolysis, but was associated with a significant increase of blood loss (p less than 0.001). Our findings suggest that improved thrombolysis with t-PA with minimal bleeding side-effects is achieved in rabbits when t-PA is administered in a relatively high dose given over a short period of time.
Low molecular weight heparin fractions (LMWH) are less hemorrhagic but are as effective as standard heparin (SH) in preventing experimentally-induced venous thrombosis. The effect of LMWH in preventing extension of established thrombi is unknown. We have compared the effects of two LMWH's (CY, PK), and a low molecular weight heparinoid (a dermatan/heparan/chondroitin mixture, OH) with SH on the prevention of extension of established venous thrombi, by measuring their ability to inhibit the accretion of 125I-fibrin onto venous thrombi pre-formed in rabbit jugular veins. Anticoagulant activity was assayed ex vivo by the APTT and a chromogenic anti-Xa assay, and the antithrombotic effect of these glycosaminoglycans was related to their anticoagulant effects. Autologous thrombi were formed in both jugular veins of each rabbit. The rabbits were then injected with 125I-fibrinogen and treated with a bolus dose of glycosaminoglycan or saline, followed by a continuous infusion for 4 hours. All four glycosaminoglycans significantly inhibited 125I-fibrin accretion (p less than 0.001). SH, CY and PK were equipotent at doses of 42.5-62.5 anti-Xa U/kg/hr in preventing fibrin accretion by 50%. Higher doses had no further effect. OH was significantly more potent than the other three glycosaminoglycans at any given dose (p less than 0.005). There was no correlation between the antithrombotic effect and the anticoagulant effects. We conclude that these LMWH's are as effective as SH in preventing extension of established thrombosis.
Suloctidil (200 mg t.i.d.) was compared with placebo in a randomized, double-blind trial to assess its value in preventing deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in high-risk neurosurgical patients, comprising 136 patients with brain or spinal tumour, head or spinal injury, or subarachnoid or intracranial hemorrhage. 125I fibrinogen leg scanning and impedance plethysmography were performed for up to 14 days to detect DVT. The two groups were also evenly balanced for DVT risk factors. Seventeen of 68 patients (25%) (95% confidence interval, 15-35%) treated with suloctidil and 12 of 68 patients (21%) (95% confidence interval, 11-32%) treated with placebo developed deep venous thrombosis. This observed difference in outcomes is not statistically significant (X2 = 1.096; p = 0.30). The estimated 95% confidence interval for the true difference in the incidence of DVT between suloctidil-treated and placebo-treated patients ranges from an 11% benefit in favour of suloctidil to an 18% benefit in favour of placebo. Major deep vein thrombosis occurred in two patients on suloctidil and three patients in the placebo group; there were no fatal pulmonary emboli during the 14-day study period, during which time four patients in each group died of non-thromboembolic complications. There was no observed difference in hemorrhagic complications. Long-term outcomes at three-months follow-up were similar between the two treatment groups. It is concluded that there is no real evidence that suloctidil (200 mg t.i.d.) is an effective regimen for the prevention of DVT in high-risk neurosurgical patients.
We performed experiments to determine whether endothelial cells synthesize phospholipid metabolites via the lipoxygenase pathway and whether these metabolites influence platelet/vessel wall interactions. Monolayers of cultured human endothelial cells were incubated with 14C-arachidonic acid and their cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase metabolites were extracted and identified by radioimmunoassay, thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. We found that in addition to the membrane-associated production of PGI2, endothelial cells synthesized a cytosol-associated metabolite, LOX, which was presumably derived through the lipoxygenase pathway. Inhibition of LOX was associated with an increase in PGI2 production and inhibition of PGI2 with an increase in LOX production. Under either condition, platelet adhesion to cultured endothelial cells was significantly decreased. In contrast, when both PGI2 and LOX production were inhibited, platelet adhesion to endothelial cells was enhanced. Furthermore, when LOX was bound to a thrombogenic surface, platelet adhesion was significantly decreased whereas when arachidonic acid or 12-HETE was bound to the surface, platelet adhesion was increased. We conclude that endothelial cells produce not only a cyclo-oxygenase metabolite, but also a lipoxygenase metabolite, both of which influence platelet/endothelial cell interactions.
The Drosophila ninaE gene was isolated by a multistep protocol on the basis of its homology to bovine opsin cDNA. The gene encodes the major visual pigment protein (opsin) contained in Drosophila photoreceptor cells R1-R6. The coding sequence is interrupted by four short introns. The positions of three introns are conserved with respect to positions in mammalian opsin genes. The nucleotide sequence has intermittent regions of homology to bovine opsin coding sequences. The deduced amino acid sequence reveals significant homology to vertebrate opsins; there is strong conservation of the retinal binding site and two other regions. The predicted protein secondary structure strikingly resembles that of mammalian opsins. We conclude the Drosophila and vertebrate opsin genes are derived from a common ancestor.
There is now considerable evidence that the antithrombotic and the hemorrhagic effects of heparin can be dissociated by using low molecular weight heparins and by using heparin with low affinity to AT III. The findings with low-affinity heparin suggest that hemorrhage is contributed to by heparin properties that are independent of AT III binding and thus of their major anticoagulant effect. The current evidence supports the suggestion that the hemorrhagic effect of heparin is contributed to by a reversible platelet functional defect that is relatively less important than its AT III dependent anticoagulant effect for preventing experimental venous thrombosis. Whether these promising results in animals also apply to human thromboembolism disease will require careful evaluation by suitably designed clinical trials.
Standard heparin, an effective treatment for antepartum thromboembolic disease, is thought to be safe for the fetus since it does not cross the placenta. Recently, a number of low molecular weight heparins have been prepared which have been shown to produce less bleeding than standard heparin for an equivalent antithrombotic effect in experimental animals. These observations suggest that the low molecular weight heparins may also provide superior antithrombotic therapy in antepartum thromboembolic disease. However, it is not known whether the low molecular weight heparins cross the placenta. To determine this, we examined the pharmacokinetics of 125I-labelled standard heparin and a low molecular weight heparin, and their anticoagulant effects in mother and fetus, using a pregnant sheep model. Catheters were inserted into maternal and fetal femoral arteries at 108-119 d gestation (term: 147 d). 1-3 days later the mothers were given a bolus i.v. injection of 5000 anti-Xa units of 125I-labelled standard heparin or low molecular weight heparin, CY 222. Nine serial blood samples were collected over 4 h from both mother and fetus for measurements of radioactivity, anti-Xa activity (chromogenic) and activated partial thromboplastin times. When therapeutic levels of standard and CY 222 heparins were achieved in the mother, there was no detectable radioactivity or anticoagulant effect in the fetus. We conclude that standard heparin and the low molecular weight CY 222 do not cross the placenta in the pregnant sheep.
The effects of standard heparin, three low molecular weight derivatives of heparin, dermatan sulphate and pentosan polysulphate on the intrinsic coagulation pathway were compared in order to evaluate the contributions of the anti-factor Xa and anti-thrombin activities to their anticoagulant activities. The anticoagulant potency was measured by the ability of each sulphated polysaccharide to inhibit the generation of thrombin activity in plasma. Similarly, the ability of the six sulphated polysaccharides to enhance the rates of inactivation either factor Xa or thrombin in defibrinated plasma containing calcium chloride and cephalin were also determined. Standard heparin was the only sulphated polysaccharide that could equally inhibit thrombin generation and enhance the inactivation of factor Xa and thrombin by plasma. Dermatan sulphate and pentosan polysulphate were more effective as inhibitors of thrombin generation than potentiators of factor Xa inactivation. The two smallest derivatives of heparin, which had high anti-factor Xa (but low antithrombin) activity, were the poorest inhibitors of thrombin generation. Our results therefore suggest that only sulphated polysaccharides that enhance the inactivation of thrombin by plasma and/or inhibit the generation of thrombin activity in plasma are good anticoagulants. These two activities of sulphated polysaccharides appear to be good predictors of the relative antithrombotic potency in vivo.
Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is a promising thrombolytic agent because it can produce thrombolysis without inducing a plasma proteolytic state. It is uncertain if this potentially important feature renders t-PA less hemorrhagic than other plasminogen activators. We have compared the hemorrhagic and thrombolytic effects of t-PA and streptokinase in rabbits. Streptokinase, 4000 U/kg/hr over 4 hr, failed to produce significant thrombolysis and 8000 U/kg/hr streptokinase over 4 hr produced only 28 +/- 6% thrombolysis. Both streptokinase regimens were associated with a plasmin-mediated plasma proteolytic state and both streptokinase regimens produced a significant increase in hemorrhage that was evident within 15 min of beginning the infusion and was progressive over the 4 hr of drug administration. In contrast, t-PA in a dose of 7500 U/kg/hr produced 35 +/- 6% thrombolysis, but it did not produce a plasmin-mediated plasma proteolytic state or a significant increase in hemorrhage over the 4 hr of infusion. t-PA in a dose of 15,000 U/kg/hr produced 85 +/- 4% thrombolysis but was associated with a plasmin-mediated proteolytic state and produced significant bleeding which, in contrast to streptokinase-induced bleeding, was delayed in onset. Therefore, t-PA induced less hemorrhage than streptokinase at doses that produced more effective thrombolysis. Bleeding with both thrombolytic agents was associated with a plasmin-mediated proteolytic state.