Coagulation/anticoagulants Flashcards
Thrombosis
Inappropriate deviation from haemeostasis. Activation of blood clot formation (thrombus) that blocks blood flow.
Embolism
The process by which a clot is dislodged from its site of origin and travels through the bloodstream to a capillary bed.
Haemostasis
The maintenance of blood’s fluidity, viscosity, and vessels. The regulation of clots.
Arterial thrombosis
A platelet driven clot within an artery. Can travel to any organ. Clot can cause ischemia (restriction of blood supply to a tissue). Embolism can cause stroke, MI.
Venous thrombosis
A coagulation cascade driven clot within a vein. Named for system blocked; deep vein (femoral), renal, and portal vein thrombosis.
What is the driving force behind venous vs arterial thrombosis?
Venous: coagulaiton cascade
Arterial: platelet driven
Embolus
A floating clot the has dislodged from the position where it came from.
4 steps to clot formation:
- vasoconstriction
- primary hemostasis
- secondary hemostasis
- Antithrombotic counter regulation
Primary hemostasis
Primary hemostasis occurs within seconds of tissue injury. Platelets are activated.
Secondary hemostasis
Secondary hemostasis occurs simultaneously: Additional coagulation factors or clotting factors respond in a cascade to form fibrin strands, which strengthen the platelet plug.
Virchow’s triad
Thrombosis is caused by one of the following:
- Irregularity in the composition of the blood.
- Blood vessel irregularity.
- `Nature of the blood flow (stasis/turbulent)
What type of proteins are most coagulation factors?
Protease enzymes (II - XII)
What is factor I?
Fibrinogen
What is the end product of the coagulation cascade?
Cross-linked fibrin
What is factor II?
Prothrombin
What is factor III?
Tissue factor, aka Thromboblastin
What triggers the extrinsic coagulation cascade?
Factor 3 (tissue factor, TF) is released or exposed at the site of injury by damaged endothelial cells. TF initiates the cascade by activating Factor VII.
Fibrin
Factor I in the common pathway. Catalyzed from fibrinogen with the help of thrombin. Fibrin. Coagulation is the crosslinking of active fibrin.
Thrombin
Factor IIa in the common pathway. Catalyzed from prothrombin with the help of Xa and Va. Thrombin also activates factors 5, 8, 11, 13., as well as platelet activation.
What is the final step in the coagulation cascade?
Thrombin (Factor IIa) activates Fibrinogen to fibrin (Factor Ia), which spontaneously polymerizes.
Intrinsic pathway
Negatively charged phospholipids on activated platelets initiate:
XII -> XIIa
XIIa + XI -> XIa
XIa + IX -> IXa
IX + VIIIa (cofactor) + X -> Xa
Note: Ca+ is an important cofactor in these reactions.
Extrinsic pathway
Trauma + VII -> VIIa
VIIa + X + Tissue Factor-> Xa
Tissue factor and Ca+ are important mediators in this reaction.
Common pathway
Xa + Va (cofactor) initiate prothrombin (II) to become Thrombin (IIa), which initiates Fibrinogen (I) to become Fibrin (Ia) monomers, which with the help of XIIIa spontaneously polymerizes, forms a clot
TFPI
Tissue Factor pathway inhibitor.
TFPI is a naturally occurring anticoagulant that inactivates Factor Xa and produces feedback inhibition to Tissue Factor/Factor VIIa.
The balance between TF and TFPI regulate coagulation.
Where is Fibrinogen synthesized?
What is its structure?
Fibrinogen is a large complex of 6 polypeptide chain produced in the liver. 2x alpha, beta, gamma. It has alternating negative and positive charges due to aspartate and glutamate amino acids.
Fibrin monomers are hydrolyzed by thrombin.
Tenase complex
Intrinsic pathway. Complex formed by VIIIa and IXa, which activates Xa.