Anticoagulant Drugs Flashcards
What is haemostasis ?
The arrest of blood loss from damaged blood vessels
What are the main ways in which haemostasis occurs.
- Vascularconstriction
- Formation of a platelet plug
- Formation of a blood clot as a result of blood coagulation
- Growth of fibrous tissue into the blood clot to close the hole permanently
Is promotion of haemostasis ever necessary ? Using what drug ?
Rarely, using tranexamic acid
Which steps of thrombosis does drug therapy target ?
- Blood clotting
- Platelet adhesion and activation
- Processes involved in fibrin removal
Identify an example of condition due to genetically determined deficiencies of clotting factors. How is this condition treated ?
Haemophilia
Treated with replacement therapy
What are possible causes of acquired clotting defects ? How are these treated ?
Liver Disease
Vitamin K deficiency
Ingestion of oral anti-coagulants
Treated with
- natural Vitamin K (phytomenadione) or
- synthetic preparation, menadiol sodium phosphate
What is the role of vitamin K in the treatment of clotting defects ?
Acts as co-factor for “the gamma-carboxylase enzymes which catalyze the posttranslational gamma-carboxylation of glutamic acid residues in inactive hepatic precursors of coagulation factors II (prothrombin), VII, IX and X”
What are all the clinical uses of vitamin K ?
- Treatment and/or prevention of bleeding from excessive oral anticoagulant use
- In babies to prevent haemorrhagic disease of the newborn
- For Vitamin K deficiencies in adults
Identify antagonists of vitamin K.
Warfarin
How does warfarin inhibit vitamin K action ?
Prevents reduction of vitamin K
What is the onset of warfarin ? Why ?
Takes many hours to act because of time taken for degradation of factors
How may one cover for the slow onset of warfarin ?
Using heparin treatment
Giving loading dose of warfarin then go down to small dose to try and maintain plasma levels
What is the main side effect of warfarin ? How can this be treated ?
haemorrhage
Can be reversed by Vitamin K
How are patients’ response to the dose of warfarin measured ?
Prothrombin Time test, allows to calculate International Normalized Ratio (INR)
Identify factors which increase the effect of warfarin.
- ↓ availability of Vitamin K
- Broad-spectrum antibiotics
- Liver disease
- Drugs which:
- impair platelet function
- displace warfarin from their binding sites on plasma albumin
- agents which inhibit microsomal enzymes in the liver
-Dietary factors
Identify factors which decrease the effect of warfarin.
- Drugs which ↑ drug metabolism
- Oral contraceptives
- Dietary factors
What is the method of administration of warfarin ?
Orally
What is the method of administration of heparin ?
Injected
Give an example of heparin.
Dalteparin
What kind of molecule are heparins ?
sulphated glycosaminoglycans