Anticoagulants, Antiplatelets and Thrombolytics - LeBlanc Flashcards
Name some prototypic anticoagulants.
- unfractionated or high molecular weight Heparin
- low molecular weight heparins
- Factor IIa and Xa inhibitors
- Warfarin (also called Coumadin)
Name some prototypic procoagulants.
- Desmopressin Acetate
Name some prototypic thrombolytic agents.
- tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA)
2. Streptokinase
Name some prototypic Antiplatelet drugs.
- Acetylsalicylic acid - Aspirin
- Clopidogrel bisulfate - Plavix
- Abciximab - ReoPro
Name some prototypic antagonists.
- Protomine sulfate
2. Aminocaproic acid
Under normal physiologic conditions, little or no intravascular coagulation occurs - why?
- coagulation factors are fairly dilute physiologically
- presence of plasma inhibitors
- activated clotting factors are rapidly removed by the liver - (the half life of activated factors may increase with liver disease)
When vascular damage occurs, what physiologic reactions participate to control blood loss?
- platelet adhesion reaction
- platelet activation
- platelet aggregation
- formation of a clot or coagulation
- fibrinolysis
What are 3 broad categories of risk factors for thromboembolism?
- abnormalities in blood flow
- abnormalities in clotting components
- abnormalities in surfaces in contact with blood
Name some abnormalities of blood flow that increase risk of thromboembolism.
- A-fib
- left ventricular dysfunction due to cardiomyopathy, CHF, MI, or ischemic/idiopathic factors
- bed rest/immobilization/paralysis
- venous obstruction due to tumors, obesity and pregnancy
Name some abnormalities of clotting components that increase risk of thromboemoblism.
- protein C/s deficiency
- antithrombin III deficiency
- Activated protein C resistance (Factor V Leiden)
- Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome
- estrogen therapy
- pregnancy
- malignancy
- homocysteinemia
- dysfibrinogenemia
- polycythemia
- myloproliferative disorder
- thrombocytosis
Name some abnormalities of surfaces in contact with blood that increase the risk of thromboembolism.
- vascular injury/trauma
- heart valve disease
- heart valve replacement
- atherosclerosis
- acute MI
- indwelling catheters
- previous DVT, PE
- fractures
- tumor invasion
- chemical irritation - potassium, hypertonic solutions, chemotherapy
Describe the process of platelet aggregation.
- trauma in blood vessel and endothelium
- extravascular space exposed - exposure of collagen fibers and vWF
- collagen binds to GPIa on platelets and vWF binds to GPIb on platelets
- platelets adhere
- adherence triggers increase in intraplatelet calcium which causes platelet to change shape and degranulate
- degranulation leads to release of thromboxane A2, 5-HT and ADP. These factors bind to adjacent platelets - recruiting and activating them
- fibrinogen binds to GPIIb/IIIa on platelets and cross links them
- coagulation cascades are triggered
What is a platelet plug?
In small vessels the process of platelet adherence alone can block bleeding - this is a platelet plug. In larger vessels the clotting processes are activated.
Name 3 hemostatic mechanisms.
- Platelet aggregation and formation of the platelet plug
- vasconstriction or vasospasm
- blood coagulation
What causes vasoconstriction or vasospasm?
- thromboxaneA2 and 5-HT are released by activated platelets. These substances trigger powerful constrictions or vasospasms by stimulating the contraction of smooth muscle cells within the walls of blood vessels.
What are some general characteristics of the coagulation pathways?
- Extrinsic pathway - coagulation occurs due to trauma originating from the extra-vascular space - formation of a macromolecular complex involving thromboplastin or tissue factor and factor VII
- Intrinsic pathway - coagulation is triggered by trauma to the blood itself - from large glycoprotein complexes released by platelets
- Common pathway - the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways converge in the common pathway
What is the purpose of the fibrinolytic system?
It serves to prevent extensive clotting.
What is the main process in fibrinolysis?
This system involves the cleavage of plasminogen to its active form - plasmin. Plasminogen is incorporated into a clot as it forms. Tissue plasmin activator, streptokinase and urokinase cleave Plasminogen into plasmin. Plasmin degrades fibrinogen into fibrinogen degradation products and fibrin clots into fibrin degradation products such as D-dimer.
What is the rate limiting step of coagulation?
The production of thrombin.
What is a summary of the process of clot formation?
- damage to a vessel wall leads to platelet adhesion and the initiation of the coagulation cascade.
- platelet adhesion leads to activation and the release of factors that cause more platelet adhesion and activation.
- the initiation of coagulation leads to the production of thrombin- once this process begins it is reinforced by factor V and more thrombin is made - positive feedback
- platelets aggregate and thrombin leads to active fibrin which causes cross-linking of platelets to form a clot or thrombus
- the production of a clot leads to eventual activation of fibrinolysis and the clot is broken down to its degradation products
What are anticoagulant drugs?
Pharmacological agents used to treat blood coagulation disorders.
What are the 3 main categories of anticoagulant drugs?
- Direct acting anticoagulants such as - Heparin, Factor IIa and Xa inhibitors and calcium chelators
- Indirect acting anticoagulants such as Warfarin (coumadin)
- Antiplatelet agents such as aspirin
What is an important cofactor in the coagulation cascade?
Calcium.
Name some clinical tests used to assess drug therapies used against blood clotting.
- Bleeding time
- platelet count
- PT time - reflects alterations in the extrinsic pathway, normally about 12 seconds
- aPTT - reflects the intrinsic pathway, normally about 24-34 seconds
- Fibrinogen - by immunological tests
- Fibrinogen/Fibrin degradation products and D-dimer
- vWF function
- mixing studies - detection of a simple deficiency of a factor or the presence of clotting inhibitor
What is the name of a reagent that is used to trigger the intrinsic pathway in a aTPP test?
Kaolin.
What is INR?
This is the international normalized ratio. It is an index used to normalize PT.
How is INR calculated and what is the desired value?
- calculated by taking the PT of the patient and dividing by the reference or mean normal PT
- INR is around 1 for a ‘normal’ person
- the therapeutic value that is desired is usually somewhere between 2 and 3.
Describe Heparin.
- an anionic mixture of linear mucopolysaccharide molecules with molecular weights in the range of 3,000 - 30,000
- this is called unfractionated or high molecular weight Heparin
- Heparin is active both in vivo and in vitro
- commercial Heparin is prepared from bovine lung and pig intestinal mucosa so allergy is a possible issue
How does HMWH work?
- inhibits blood coagulation by forming complexes with an alpha globulin (antithrombin III)
- Antithrombin III normally inactivates factors of the coagulation cascade - Kallikerein, XIIa, XIa, IXa, Xa and Thrombin
- when heparin binds to antithrombin III it increases it’s affinity to bind to the clotting factors by 100 fold
- once the factors are bound to the heparin/ATIII complex, heparin dissociates and is able to bind to another fee ATIII
- heparin blocks conversion of prothrombin to thrombin and thus inhibits the synthesis of fibrin to fibrinogen
- At low doses, heparin primarily neutralizes factor Xa
- at high doses it prevents thrombin induced activation of platelets and factors V and VIII
- very effective at suppressing the activity of factors Xa, IXa, XIa and thrombin
- basically inhibits platelet function and increases vascular permeability