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Onset of force development as a marker of thrombin generation in whole blood: the thrombin generation time (TGT).

Prothrombin activation requires the direct interplay of activated platelets and plasma clotting factors. Once formed, thrombin causes profound, irreversible activation of platelets and reinforces the platelet plug via fibrin formation. Delayed or deficient thrombin production increases bleeding risk. Commonly employed coagulation assays, the prothrombin and partial thromboplastin times, use clot formation as a surrogate marker of thrombin generation. These assays routinely utilize platelet-poor plasma and completely miss the effects of platelets. Other markers of thrombin generation, prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2) and thrombin-antithrombin complex, are typically measured after the fact. We report a simple assay, which employs the onset of platelet contractile force (PCF) as a surrogate marker of thrombin generation. PCF generation occurs concomitant with the burst of F1 + 2 release. The time between assay start and PCF onset is termed the thrombin generation time (TGT). TGT is prolonged in clotting factor deficiencies and in the presence of direct and indirect thrombin inhibitors. TGT shortens to normal with clotting factor replacement and shortens with administration of recombinant factor VIIa. TGT is short in thrombophilic states such as coronary artery disease, diabetes and thromboangiitis obliterans and prolongs toward normal with oral and intravenous anticoagulants.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗

Comparison of recombinant human thrombin and plasma-derived human alpha-thrombin.

Bleeding can be a serious complication of surgery, and topical thrombin is widely used as an adjunct to hemostasis in diverse surgical settings. The potent hemostatic properties of thrombin derive from its ability to activate platelets directly to aggregate and adhere to damaged vessels and to catalyze the formation simultaneously of a fibrin matrix. Application of exogenous thrombin bypasses the physiological process of generating a thrombin burst by directly initiating the terminal reactions of blood clot formation. Currently, thrombin used to control surgical bleeding is primarily from bovine plasma, with a small percentage from human plasma. Human thrombin isolated from pooled plasma carries the risk of transmitting plasma-borne pathogens or prion diseases. The bovine preparations have been associated with protein and preparative contaminants that pose potential risks of developing cross-reacting antibodies. There is a need for a pure therapeutic preparation of human thrombin. Recombinant human thrombin (rhThrombin) has been efficiently produced from a prethrombin-1 precursor obtained from Chinese hamster ovary cell culture. This rhThrombin is substantially free of process-derived contaminants and has been characterized extensively in terms of composition, primary, secondary, and tertiary structure, enzymatic activity; and in vivo pharmacology. In vivo studies of topically applied rhThrombin have shown it is effective in achieving hemostasis in a rabbit liver excisional wound model. Clinical studies are ongoing to evaluate the safety and efficacy of rhThrombin as an adjunct to hemostasis in patients undergoing surgery.

Animals↗

Roles of low specificity and cofactor interaction sites on thrombin during factor XIII activation. Competition for cofactor sites on thrombin determines its fate.

Factor XIII is activated by thrombin, and this reaction is enhanced by the presence of fibrin(ogen). Using a substrate-based screening assay for factor XIII activity complemented by kinetic analysis of activation peptide cleavage, we show by using thrombin mutants of surface-exposed residues that Arg-178, Arg-180, Asp-183, Glu-229, Arg-233, and Trp-50 of thrombin are necessary for direct activation of factor XIII. These residues define a low specificity site known to be important also for both protein C activation and for inhibition of thrombin by antithrombin. The enhancing effect of fibrinogen occurs as a consequence of its conversion to fibrin and subsequent polymerization. Surface residues of thrombin further involved in high specificity fibrin-enhanced factor XIII activation were identified as His-66, Tyr-71, and Asn-74. These residues represent a distinct interaction site on thrombin (within exosite I) also employed by thrombomodulin in its cofactor-enhanced activation of protein C. In competition experiments, thrombomodulin inhibited fibrin-enhanced factor XIII activation. Based upon these and prior published results, we propose that the polymerization process forms a fibrin cofactor that acts to approximate thrombin and factor XIII bound to separate and complementary domains of fibrinogen. This enables enhanced factor XIII activation to be localized around the fibrin clot. We also conclude that proximity to and competition for cofactor interaction sites primarily directs the fate of thrombin.

Binding, Competitive↗

Thrombin activation of factor XI on activated platelets requires the interaction of factor XI and platelet glycoprotein Ib alpha with thrombin anion-binding exosites I and II, respectively.

Activation of factor XI (FXI) by thrombin on stimulated platelets plays a physiological role in hemostasis, providing additional thrombin generation required in cases of severe hemostatic challenge. Using a collection of 53 thrombin mutants, we identified 16 mutants with <50% of the wild-type thrombin FXI-activating activity in the presence of dextran sulfate. These mutants mapped to anion-binding exosite (ABE) I, ABE-II, the Na+-binding site, and the 50-insertion loop. Only the ABE-II mutants showed reduced binding to dextran sulfate-linked agarose. Selected thrombin mutants in ABE-I (R68A, R70A, and R73A), ABE-II (R98A, R245A, and K248A), the 50-insertion loop (W50A), and the Na+-binding site (E229A and R233A) with <10% of the wild-type activity also showed a markedly reduced ability to activate FXI in the presence of stimulated platelets. The ABE-I, 50-insertion loop, and Na+-binding site mutants had impaired binding to FXI, but normal binding to glycocalicin, the soluble form of glycoprotein Ibalpha (GPIb alpha). In contrast, the ABE-II mutants were defective in binding to glycocalicin, but displayed normal binding to FXI. Our data support a quaternary complex model of thrombin activation of FXI on stimulated platelets. Thrombin bound to one GPIb alpha molecule, via ABE-II on its posterior surface, is properly oriented for its activation of FXI bound to a neighboring GPI alpha molecule, via ABE-I on its anterior surface. GPIb alpha plays a critical role in the co-localization of thrombin and FXI and the resultant efficient activation of FXI.

Anions↗

Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI)--how does thrombin regulate fibrinolysis?

The thrombin-catalysed conversion of plasma fibrinogen into fibrin and the development of an insoluble fibrin clot are the final steps of the coagulation cascade during haemostasis. A delicate balance between coagulation and fibrinolysis determines the stability of the fibrin clot. Thrombin plays a central role in this process, it not only forms the clot but it is also involved in stabilizing the clot by activating thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI). Activated TAFI protects the fibrin clot against lysis. Here we will discuss the mechanisms for regulation of fibrinolysis by thrombin. The role of the coagulation system for the generation of thrombin and for the activation of TAFI implies that defects in thrombin generation will directly affect the protection of clots against lysis. Thus, defects in activation of TAFI might contribute to the severity of bleeding disorders. Vice versa an increased activation of TAFI due to an increased rate of thrombin generation might lead to thrombotic disorders. Specific inhibitors of activated TAFI or inhibitors that interfere with the generation of thrombin might provide novel therapeutic strategies for thrombolytic therapy. Besides having a role in the regulation of fibrinolysis, TAFI may also have an important function in the regulation of inflammation, wound healing and blood pressure.

Animals↗

A monoclonal antibody against bovine thrombin reacting to the C-terminal side of thrombin.

We succeeded in producing a monoclonal antibody (MAb) against bovine thrombin. The MAb belonged to mouse IgG(1), and its light chain consisted of kappa-chain. The MAb reacted with bovine and human thrombins, which were coated by coupling to poly-lysine-coated wells with glutaraldehyde, but did not react with the thrombin-like enzyme, habutobin. Furthermore, the MAb did not react with thrombin which was coated to plates without poly-lysine and glutaraldehyde. The concentration of thrombin in ovalbumin solution (10 mg/mL) could be measured by means of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) double sandwich method using the MAb and polyclonal antibody. Thrombin added to defibrinated plasma could not be detected by means of the ELISA double sandwich method using the present MAb, and this may be due to the AT-III activity in the defibrinated plasma. Postclotting thrombin could be detected by means of the ELISA-double sandwich method using the MAb. It is suggested, from the results of our experiments, that the MAb obtained reacted in a limited fashion to the C-terminal of bovine thrombin.

Animals↗

Unraveling thrombin's true microglia-activating potential: markedly disparate profiles of pharmaceutical-grade and commercial-grade thrombin preparations.

Microglia are the resident immune cells of the CNS. Brain injury triggers microglial activation, leading to proliferation, changes in antigenic profile, NO production and cytokine release. It is widely believed that serum factors inundating the injured tissue can prompt this activation, leading to long-term phenotypic changes. We and others have recently reported that commercial-grade preparations of thrombin, a serine protease known for its central function in blood coagulation, activate microglial cells. Recent findings, however, have called into question the involvement of thrombin itself in the induction of microglial cytokine release and led us to systematically re-investigate the ability of the protease to induce a broad spectrum of microglial activation parameters. We used a pharmaceutical-grade recombinant human thrombin (rh-thr) and compared it with a commercial-grade plasma-derived bovine thrombin (pb-thr) preparation that has been used extensively in the literature, including in our own earlier report. We investigated the effect of these two thrombin preparations on proliferation, NO production, interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha release, intracellular calcium signaling and cell surface expression of CD95 (Fas) and CD40. Pb-thr induced robust responses in all variables tested. In contrast, rh-thr triggered calcium signals and induced small but significant changes in the expression of cell surface antigens, but had no effect on proliferation, NO production or cytokine release. Control studies assured equivalent thrombin potencies and excluded both species-specific effects and endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) contamination as possible causes of the disparity. Our results indicate a substantially more restricted role for thrombin itself in microglial activation than previously appreciated, but point to several potentially important co-stimulatory effects. In addition, these results suggest that previous studies examining thrombin's activation of microglia should be cautiously re-interpreted.

Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones↗

Factor V C2 domain contains a major thrombin-binding site responsible for thrombin-catalyzed factor V activation.

Factor (F)V is converted into its active form, FVa, by limited proteolysis. Thrombin-catalyzed activation of FV is essential for its full cofactor activation. Previously, we reported that thrombin was bound to the C2 domain in the light chain of FVIII. As FV has a similar domain structure to FVIII, we focused on the FV C2 domain as a possible binding region for thrombin. Kinetic parameters, measured by surface plasmon resonance, revealed that the K(d) values of anhydro-thrombin for FV, FVa, and the FV C2 domain were 66, 240, and 670 nmol L(-1), respectively. FV activation was increased by approximately 9-fold by the addition of thrombin. In the presence of the FV C2 domain, this increase of the FV activation was inhibited. However, FV activation was not inhibited by the addition of the FVIII C2 domain. FV was cleaved into a 105-kDa heavy chain and a 71/74-kDa light chain by thrombin-catalyzed proteolysis at Arg709, Arg1018 and Arg1545. In the presence of the FV C2 domain, the cleavage was inhibited at all sites. Proteolysis was not affected by the addition of the FVIII C2 domain. These results indicated that the FV C2 domain contains a major binding site for thrombin and that this domain is necessary for the proteolysis at all cleavage sites. Furthermore, the present results also suggested that thrombin has an independent binding site for FV different from that for FVIII.

Binding, Competitive↗

Synthetic selective inhibitors of coagulation factor Xa strongly inhibit thrombin generation without affecting initial thrombin forming time necessary for platelet activation in hemostasis.

DX-9065a and JTV-803, synthetic selective inhibitors of activated factor X (FXa), have recently been demonstrated as strongly effective antithrombotic agents in animal thrombosis models, yet with a low risk of bleeding. The aim of the present study was to elucidate these characteristics. Using a chromogenic assay with purified coagulation factors, 73.9% of thrombin generation was suppressed by the addition of DX-9065a (0.20 microm) and 75.7% by JTV-803 (0.18 microm). Inhibition by argatroban (0.19 microm) was less (36.0%) and initial thrombin forming time (T50), the time required to generate 50% thrombin activity in vitro, which is considered important for platelet aggregation in hemostasis, was significantly prolonged by argatroban. In contrast, DX-9065a and JTV-803 had no apparent influence on T50, suggesting that initial thrombin was formed immediately, as in the control. We also investigated platelet aggregation in defibrinated plasma induced by tissue factor, to clarify whether initial thrombin contributes to hemostasis. Aggregation was not affected by the addition of either FXa inhibitor, whereas it was significantly reduced by argatroban. Our results suggest that initial thrombin, which is formed despite the presence of a FXa inhibitor, can activate platelets. We concluded that DX-9065a and JTV-803 are able to inhibit thrombin generation significantly without affecting the formation of initial thrombin for platelet activation, which may contribute to hemostasis through the preservation of normal bleeding time.

Anticoagulants↗

Bound thrombin from crushed clots is composed of alpha-thrombin and the N-terminal regions of alpha- and gamma-chains of fibrinogen.

We aimed at clarifying the structural characteristics of the bound thrombin that is liberated by mechanical breakdown of fibrin clots. Fibrin clots were prepared with bovine thrombin and rabbit fibrinogen, and were crushed mechanically with a glass rod. The supernatant of the crushed clots was subjected to immunoaffinity chromatography to isolate the bound thrombin. Western blotting analysis revealed that the bound thrombin could be reacted with both antithrombin and antifibrinogen under unreduced conditions. SDS-PAGE under reduced conditions revealed that there were three bands, two of which were found to be the N-terminal fragments of the alpha- and gamma-chains of fibrinogen. The bound thrombin could be dissociated into three distinct fibrin fragments and bovine alpha-thrombin when denatured by 8 M urea. Thus, the bound thrombin liberated from crushed clots is a stable complex between bovine alpha-thrombin and fibrin fragments of the N-terminal regions of rabbit alpha- and gamma-chains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Treatment of hemoptysis patients by thrombin and fibrinogen-thrombin infusion therapy using a fiberoptic bronchoscope.

We report the results of a simplified fiberoptic bronchoscopy-based procedure for thrombin and fibrinogen-thrombin infusion therapy in hemoptysis patients. A total of 33 patients with frequent bloody sputum or hemoptysis received either thrombin (19 cases) or fibrinogen-thrombin (14 cases) infusion therapy. Massive hemoptysis was present in ten patients receiving thrombin therapy and nine patients receiving fibrinogen-thrombin therapy. Thrombin therapy was very effective in 14 cases, effective in one case and ineffective in four cases. Fibrinogen-thrombin therapy was very effective in 11 cases and somewhat effective in three cases; two of these three patients had tuberculosis and the third required emergency surgery for removal of a foreign object in the bronchus. We conclude that infusion therapy using a fiberoptic bronchoscope is a simple and effective low-risk technique of choice for the treatment of hemoptysis patients.

Bronchoscopes↗

[Evaluation of thrombin generation and clot bound thrombin in plasma of hyperlipidemic patients treated with statins].

Thrombin is a crucial enzyme in blood coagulation cascade having both pro- and antithrombotic properties. Disorders of hemostatic balance increase possibility of clot formation and play significant role in the development of atherosclerosis. Statins applied in prevention of cardiovascular diseases, have not only hypolipemic activity but also many pleiotropic effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of thrombin generation and clot bound thrombin in patients with hyperlipidemia type II (hlpII) before and after statins treatment. 81 patients were involved in this study: 59 patients with hlp II and 22 healthy. Patients with hlp II were treated with pravastatin (20 mg/day; n=10), simvastatin (20 mg/day; n=22), atorvastatin (10 mg/day; n=27). The treatment in each of groups lasted 8 weeks. Thrombin generation and clot bound thrombin level were estimated before and after therapy by means of spectrophotometric method with usage of chromogenic substrate S-2238. Our results demonstrate that therapy with atorva- simva- and pravastatin improves lipid levels in plasma and investigated hemostasis parameters. All three statins statistically significantly decrease total generated thrombin. Atorva- and simvastatin also significantly decrease activity both free generated thrombin and clot bound thrombin. No correlation between lipidogram and hemostatic parameters after treatment with statins suggests that observed changes are pleiotropic effect of statins treatment.

Adult↗

Human thrombins. Production, evaluation, and properties of alpha-thrombin.

Human alpha-thrombin, the thromboplastin activation product of prothrombin with high clotting and esterase activity, was produced from Cohn Fraction III paste. The procedure started with 0.4 to 3.2 kg of frozen paste and was completed in 2 or 3 days. Some 23 g of thrombin were recorded for 65 quantitated preparations made from 11 lots of Fraction III paste. These preparations were obtained at protein concentrations of 3.9 +/- 1.3 mg/ml with a yield of 340 +/- 110 mg/kg of paste, which represented 48 +/- 14% of the clotting potential extracted as prothrombin. They had specific clotting activities of 2.8 +/- 0.4 U.S. (NIH) units/microng of protein and titrated to 88 +/- 8% active with p-nitrophenyl-p'-guanidinobenzoate (NPGB). Those (N - 29) examined by labeling with [14C]diisopropyl phosphorofluoridate (iPr2P-F) and electrophoresing in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels were found to contain only (N = 4) or predominantly alpha-thrombin (97 +/- 3%) and corresponding amounts of ists degradation product, beta-thrombin (2.6 +/- 3.1%). No plasmin(ogen), prothrombin complex factors (II, VII, IX, IXalpha, X, Xalpha), or prothrombin fragments were detected in representative preparations. As produced in 0.75 M NaCl, pH approximately 6, thrombin was stable for approximately 1 week at 4 degrees and for greater than 1 year at less than or equal to 50 degrees; freeze-dried thrombin stored at 4 degrees for greater than 1 year displayed stable clotting activity and no vial to vial variation, permitting its use for reference purposes. Human thrombin generated by Taipan snake venom activation was compared with that produced by rapid thromboplastin activation: after treatment with [14C]iPr2P-F, greater than 95% of the label in both thrombins migrated at the same rate during electrophoresis in SDS; identical pairs of NH2-terminal residues were released in three consecutive Edman degradation cycles.

Blood Coagulation↗

IL-1 and related cytokines enhance thrombin-stimulated PGI2 production in cultured endothelial cells without affecting thrombin-stimulated von Willebrand factor secretion or platelet-activating factor biosynthesis.

We examined the effects of various cytokines on alpha-thrombin-stimulated prostaglandin (PG) I2 production, von Willebrand factor (vWF) secretion, and platelet-activating factor (PAF) synthesis in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). A 24-h pretreatment with IL-1 beta doubled the low level of constitutive PGI2 production. In contrast, alpha-thrombin increased PGI2 production fivefold in untreated HUVEC. The most striking increase in PGI2 production was observed in IL-1 beta-treated HUVEC that were subsequently stimulated with thrombin. PGI2 production was two to three times greater than in untreated, thrombin-stimulated HUVEC and nearly eightfold greater than in IL-1 beta-treated but unstimulated HUVEC. Enhanced thrombin-stimulated PGI2 production was also observed in HUVEC pretreated with the related cytokines IL-1 alpha, TNF, or lymphotoxin. This cytokine effect was selective for PGI2 production because none of these cytokines altered either constitutive or thrombin-stimulated vWF secretion or PAF biosynthesis. IL-1 beta enhancement of thrombin-stimulated PGI2 production was concentration and time dependent and required protein synthesis. IL-1 beta pretreatment also enhanced PGI2 production in response to another agonist, histamine, and to exogenously added substrates, arachidonic acid or PGH2. Our results indicate that activation by IL-1 and related cytokines selectively primes endothelial cells for enhanced PGI2 production, but not vWF secretion or PAF synthesis, in response to thrombin and histamine. The evidence suggests that this effect is mediated through specific induction of biosynthetic enzymes for PGI2.

Arachidonic Acid↗

Evidence that the thrombin-catalyzed feedback cleavage of fragment 1.2 at Arg154-Ser155 promotes the release of thrombin from the catalytic surface during the activation of bovine prothrombin.

During the course of prothrombin activation, as catalyzed by Factor Xa, Factor Va, Ca2+, and negatively-charged phospholipid vesicles, the three proteins distribute between the fluid phase and the vesicle surface. On the vesicle, efficient Factor Xa-catalyzed proteolysis yields thrombin plus Fragment 1.2. Further thrombin-catalyzed feedback cleavage of the latter then yields Fragment 1 plus Fragment 2. Prior to this cleavage Fragment 1.2 might retain thrombin at the site of catalysis since it binds both phospholipid and thrombin through its respective Fragment 1 and Fragment 2 domains. In order to study the role of the feedback cleavage, light scattering at right angles was used to deduce the nature of the components associated with the vesicle during prothrombin activation by continuous monitoring of the relative molecular weight of the vesicle-protein complex. When prothrombin (1.4 microM) was added to homogeneously sized phospholipid vesicles of phosphatidylcholine-phosphatidylserine (3:1) at a total phospholipid concentration of 20 microM, the scattering intensity doubled. Upon subsequent addition of Factor Xa and Factor Va (5.0 nM each) the scattering intensity smoothly decreased to a value about 1.25-fold greater than that of the vesicles alone. Analysis of the composition of the reaction mixture at intervals during the course of the reaction by gel electrophoresis and laser densitometry, provided a good correlation between the mass of the vesicle-protein complex measured by light scattering and its mass inferred by composition. In addition, the decrease in mass of the vesicle-protein complex measured by light scattering correlated temporally with cleavage of Fragment 1.2. When the reaction was initiated in the presence of the reversible thrombin inhibitor dansylarginine-N-(3-ethyl-1,5-pentanediyl)amide no cleavage of Fragment 1.2 occurred, as indicated by gel electrophoresis, and no change in the mass of the vesicle-protein complex occurred as indicated by light scattering. The absence of change in scattering intensity in the presence of dansylarginine-N-(3-ethyl-1,5-pentanediyl)amide suggests a 1:1 replacement of prothrombin at the catalytic surface by components of equivalent mass (Fragment 1.2 plus thrombin), whereas the decrease in scattering in the absence of dansylarginine-N-(3-ethyl-1,5-pentanediyl)amide suggests replacement of prothrombin by Fragment 1 only. Together these results indicate that the thrombin-catalyzed cleavage of Fragment 1.2 promotes release of thrombin from the catalytic surface.

Algorithms↗

A role for pericellular proteoglycan in the binding of thrombin or antithrombin III by the blood vessel endothelium? The effects of proteoglycan-degrading enzymes and glycosaminoglycan-binding proteins on 125I-thrombin binding by the rabbit thoracic aorta in vitro.

Rabbit thoracic aorta segments were treated with either proteoglycan-degrading enzymes or with glycosaminoglycan-binding proteins to examine the nature of the endothelial and subendothelial binding sites of 125I-thrombin. Treatment (5-30 min) with enzymes (heparitinase, chondroitinases AC or ABC) caused a decrease in 125I-thrombin binding by the endothelium (30-70%) and by the subendothelial (intima-media) layer (20-50%); a low-specificity protease destroyed endothelial binding almost entirely and reduced binding to the subendothelium by approximately 60% over a similar period. Of the glycosaminoglycan-binding proteins, pretreatment of the aorta wall with protamine caused a 30% decrease in thrombin binding to the endothelium whereas lipoprotein lipase (present during 125I-thrombin uptake) decreased binding by up to 40%. Pretreatment with antithrombin III did not significantly affect binding of either 125I-thrombin or 125I-FPR-inactivated thrombin. In contrast to thrombin, 125I-antithrombin III was not readily uptaken by the aorta segments. These observations indicate that, whereas the minimal binding by 125I-antithrombin III probably does not involve endothelial proteoglycan, a strong case can be made for endothelial and subendothelial proteoglycan binding sites for thrombin.

Affinity Labels↗

The influence of thrombin on the clotting activity of factor VIII. A study with insolubilized thrombin.

An investigation of the influence of thrombin on the clotting activity of factor VIII was made. Purified factor VIII and different amounts of thrombin complexed to Sepharose 4 B were mixed and incubated for various periods of time. The factor VIII activities of these incubation mixtures were determined by the one- and two-stage analytical procedures in the presence of the thrombin-sepharose and in its absence following the latter removal from the test sample by filtration. The results so obtained confirm the view that thrombin inactivates factor VIII. Evidences for a thrombin-induced potentiation of the factor VIII activity, seen only in the thrombin-sepharose containing test samples analyzed by the one-stage method, are here interpreted as thrombin-effects peculiar to this factor VIII test system and not as potentiation by thrombin of the factor itself.

Blood Coagulation↗

Simultaneous occurrence of human antibodies directed against fibrinogen, thrombin, and factor V following exposure to bovine thrombin: effects on blood coagulation, protein C activation and platelet function.

We describe a patient with severe epistaxis, prolonged coagulation tests and decreased plasma factor V following exposure to bovine topical thrombin. Patient IgG, but not normal IgG, showed binding to immobilized thrombin (bovine > human) and fibrinogen, and to factor V by Western blotting; the binding to thrombin was inhibited by hirudin fragment 54-65. Electron microscopy of rotary shadowed preparations showed complexes with IgG molecules attached near the ends of trinodular fibrinogen molecules. Patient IgG inhibited procoagulant, anticoagulant and cell-stimulating functions of thrombin demonstrated by inhibition of fibrinogen clotting, protein C activation and platelet aggregation; thrombin hydrolysis of S-2238 was not inhibited. The results suggest that the antibody is targeted against anion-binding exosite and not catalytic site of thrombin. Antifibrinogen antibodies have not been reported in patients exposed to bovine thrombin. There is a pressing need to re-evaluate the role of bovine thrombin as a therapeutic agent.

Aged↗