Drugs acting in the bloodstream Flashcards
What is the purpose of the endothelial cells lining the vascular space?
They provide a non-thrombogenic surface preventing unnucessary coagulation, thrombosis and platelet activation.
If disrupted, platelets are exposed to extravascular tissue and become partially activated by tissue factor.
Where is tissue factor present?
- injured endothelium
- tissue factor bearing fibroblasts and monocytes
Summary of the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Coagulation Cascade

What happens in initiation of coagulation?
Results in formation of prothombinase.
Factor VII and tissue factor play a key role.
What happens in amplification of coagulation?
Platelets are activated. The platelet is activated by various coagulation factors of which thrombin (factor IIa) plays a key role.
What is propagation in coagulation?
Massive thrombin burst.
This thrombin converts fibrinogen to fibrin resulting in a stable fibrin clot.
What happens when extravascular tissue is damaged?
- bares tissue factor
- this TF partially activates platelets
- this results in
- expression of platelet gylcoprotein 1b/factor IX
- release of VWF that attaches platelet to subendothelial collagen
- externalization of plasma membrane phosphatidylserines that provides scaffold for coagulation complexes
What does factor VII do?
Circulating factor VII attaches to TF that is present on the damaged endothelium and fibroblasts/monocytes that have migrated to the site of injury
What does factor VIIa/TF complex do?
Activates factors IX and X
Factor IXa migrates to the platelet surface.
Factor Xa forms a complex with VIIa/TF.
What does factor Xa do?
The Factor Xa/VIIa/TF complex activates factor V
What does Factor Xa/Va do?
Factor Xa separates from its parent complex and joins factor Va to become Xa/Va, also known as prothrombinase
The remaining VIIa/TF is inactivated by Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitors (TFPI)
What happens after initiation?
Amplification - occurs on surface of the platelets
- The prothrombinase converts prothrombin into small amounts of thrombin (factor IIa)
- This thrombin activates factors V, VIII, X and XI
- These factors fully activate the platelet
- Thrombin also has some direct activating effect
What stage comes after amplification?
Propagation - occurs on surface of activated platelets
- the activated platelet expresses prothrombinase (factor Va/Xa complex) and tenase (factor VIIIa/IXa complex) on the surface
- these complexes cause a massive conversion of prothrombin into thrombin, known as a ‘thrombin burst’. One prothromibinase complex can generate 1000 molecules of thrombin
- this thrombin converts fibrinogen into fibrin that forms the stable haemostatic clot
What is the structure of warfarin?
A coumarin derivative found in plants (lavender and woodruff)

What is the action of warfarin?
- inhibits vit K dependent coagulation factors
- 2, 7, 9, 10
- protein C and S also inhibited
- production of clotting factors is dependent on carboxylation of precursor proteins
- during this reaction vit K is oxidized to vit K epoxide, an inactive form
- warfarin inhibits the enzyme (vit K epoxide reductase) responsible for reducing it back to vit K

How plasma protein bound is warfarin?
99%
Where is warfarin metabolised and where is it excreted?
Metabolized entirely by liver.
Metabolites excreted in urine and faeces.
What is the half life of warfarin?
35 - 45 hrs
What drugs does warfarin inhibit metabolism of?
- cimetidine
- alcohol
- allopurinol
- erythromycin
- ciprofloxacin
- metronidazole
What drugs does warfarin displace from plasma proteins?
What drugs does warfarin induce enzymes for?
- barbiturates
- rifampicin
- carbamazepine
What does warfarin do to fat soluble vitamin absorption?
It causes decreased fat soluble vitamin absorption.
So inhibits cholestyramine.
How many days does prothrombin levels take to decrease by 50% when starting warfarin?
3 days (although shorter if patient is unwell or if there are drug interactions)
How is warfarin monitored?
- by a single point prothrombin time, sensitive to factors 2, 7 and 10
- the INR is a ratio of the patient’s prothrombin time to a normal (control) sample



