Evaluation of a new point of care heparin test for cardiopulmonary bypass: the TAS heparin management test

Patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) require anticoagulation with heparin to avoid thrombosis within the bypass circuit. The common method used to monitor the degree of anticoagulation is the activated clotting time (ACT). We evaluated a novel point of care device, the TAS (Pharmanetics, Raleigh, NC, USA) heparin management test (HMT), for its suitability in monitoring anticoagulation during CPB. In vitro analysis showed a dose-response (r2=0.988) of the HMT from 0.078-10.0 U/ml heparin, covering the range of heparin used during cardiac surgery (2-5 U/ml). Fifty randomly selected patients undergoing CPB were studied. Preheparin clotting times for these patients were 143+/-32 s for the HMT and 146+/-18 s for the ACT; 435+/-60 s HMT and 438+/-39 s ACT during CPB; 145+/-50 s HMT and 128+/-14 s ACT post-protamine (r2=0.797). epsilon-Aminocaproic acid treatment for inhibition of fibrinolysis did not affect the HMT. We conclude that the HMT correlates well with the ACT and may be useful for monitoring heparin during CPB. Advantages of the HMT are small sample volume and good sensitivity to heparin.     

优秀女子赛艇运动员比赛前后血乳酸、血尿素及血清肌酸激酶跟踪测试

目的:跟踪测试优秀女子赛艇运动员比赛前后血乳酸、血尿素及血清肌酸激酶的变化,探讨女子赛艇运动员机体能量物质代谢和赛后疲劳恢复的特点。方法:选取2005-07/09湖北省水上运动中心优秀女子运动员14名,其中国家健将级运动员7名,国家一级运动员7名;平均年龄(22±4)岁,训练年限(4.1±1.4)年,身高(174.2±3.1)cm,体质量(68.6±4.7)kg。14名运动员分别于2000m划艇比赛当日晨空腹、赛前15min、赛后5min,1h及24h抽取指尖血60μL,进行血乳酸、血尿素、血清肌酸激酶检测。结果:14名运动员全部进入结果分析。①比赛前后运动员血乳酸水平的变化:运动员空腹血乳酸水平为(1.22±0.45)mmol/L,赛前15min为(2.89±0.49)mmol/L。赛后5min血乳酸浓度高达(11.51±1.72)mmol/L,与空腹水平比较差异有显著性意义(t=3.077,P<0.01)。赛后24h血乳酸浓度显著下降至(1.76±0.24)mmol/L,与空腹水平基本接近(t=0.027,P>0.05)。②比赛前后运动员血尿素水平的变化:与空腹血尿素水平比较,运动员赛后5min血尿素浓度明显升高[(5.45±0.47),(6.13±1.00)mmol/L;t=2.416,P<0.05]。赛后24h血尿素浓度下降至(5.94±0.85)mmol/L,仍高于空腹水平(t=2.682,P<0.05)。③比赛前后运动员血清肌酸激酶活性的变化:与赛前比较,运动员赛后5min血清肌酸激酶活性明显升高[(3.38±1.58),(6.13±3.25)nkat/L;t=4.968,P<0.01]。赛后1h血清肌酸激酶活性开始下降,至赛后24h与赛前基本相似(t=1.537,P>0.05)。结论:①赛后5min血乳酸、血尿素、血清肌酸激酶活性显著高于赛前,赛后1h血乳酸消除迅速,但仍未恢复到正常水平。提示赛艇是一种以糖酵解系统为主、无氧 有氧代谢混合型供能的运动项目。②赛艇比赛使酸性产物生成增多,血乳酸、血尿素、血清肌酸激酶可作为运动强度和机能恢复的指标。③赛艇比赛后至少24h内,机体处于蛋白质降解增强状态,建议恢复期增加饮食糖和蛋白质摄入量,以促进合成代谢,加快功能恢复过程。     

Assessment of Synvisc treatment in osteoarthritis

Background. Viscosupplementation is a relatively new method for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). The main goal of this project was to assess the safety and clinical utility of Hylan G-F20 (Synvisc(R)) in the treatment of pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knee. The type and frequency of additional therapies used during Synvisc(R) treatment were also assessed. It was a prospective project designed for monitoring Synvisc(R)-prescribing habits in usual medical care.
Material and method. One hundred ninety knee joints in 187 patients were studied (OA symptoms were bilateral in 3 women). Synvisc(R) was indicated for the local treatment of pain in osteoarthritis of the knee. After the diagnosis, Synvisc(R) therapy was started at the recommended dose of 2 ml per intra-articular injection once
a week (at 1-week intervals), three injections in total. The data collected, including medical history, physical examination, radiographic examination and treatment efficacy (overall assessment performed at each visit), were recorded on case report forms designed to facilitate statistical analysis. The physicians completed visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for overall assessment of OA pain at each visit. The clinical outcome was recorded after the end of therapy. The patient data were collected by physicians taking part in this project only.
Results. In 156 cases (82.1%) either a substantial improvement or subsidence of symptoms was observed. In 34 cases (17.9%) the improvement was small or there was no change in the patient's condition. There were local adverse reactions in 2 patients (1.07%). There was no need to cease the treatment, to hospitalise a patient or to start any additional treatment. In 167 patients (89.3%) there was no need to start any non-pharmacological concomitant treatment.
Conclusions. In summary, Synvisc(R) viscosupplementation should be rated among the safest and most effective methods for the treatment of OA, for it alleviates OA-related pain, thus reducing the need for NSAIDs and steroid injections. The use of Synvisc(R) in OA patients alleviates pain regardless of sex and age, the effect being the most pronounced in patients with low- and medium-grade radiographic changes.     

Single-stranded DNA from abutilon mosaic virus is present in the plastids of infected Abutilon sellovianum

The leaf mosaic of Abutilon sellovianum is caused by abutilon mosaic virus (AbMV), a geminivirus that has a circular single-stranded DNA genome. DNA was isolated from intact plastids of AbMV-infected and noninfected plants. Plastids from infected plants were shown to contain the single-stranded AbMV DNA by Southern-blot hybridization experiments that used a probe made from highly purified AbMV DNA. The possibility of adsorption of AbMV virions or viral DNA onto the plastid envelope was ruled out by several in vitro experiments with DNase I and protease. Furthermore, the lamellar system of plastids from AbMV-infected plants was degenerated and substituted by amorphous electron-dense material. The transport of AbMV DNA across the plastid envelope has implications for the development of a chloroplast transformation vector.     

Affinity purification of heparin-dependent antibodies to platelet factor 4 developed in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: biological characteristics and effects on platelet activation

Antibodies to heparin platelet factor 4 (H-PF4) complexes were purified from the plasma of three patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) using affinity chromatography. From each plasma, the largest amount of antibodies was eluted with 2 M NaCl at pH 7.5 (peak 1) and the remainder was obtained using 0.1 M glycine/0. 5 M NaCl at pH 2.5 (peak 2). In an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we then showed that each patient had developed antibodies to PF4 displaying different characteristics. In patient 1, peak 1 IgG reacted almost exclusively with H-PF4 complexes, whereas peak 2 IgG had similar reactivity with PF4 whether or not heparin was present. Patient 2 expressed a mixture of IgA, IgM and IgG and both fractions bound to PF4 alone or to H-PF4 complexes. Finally, IgG in patient 3 only bound to H-PF4 and was unreactive with PF4 alone. Using [14C]-serotonin release assays, the antibodies developed in the three patients and exhibiting the strongest ability to activate platelets with heparin were those having the highest affinity to H-PF4. These results strongly support the hypothesis that HIT antibodies to PF4 are heterogeneous regarding their affinity and specificity for target antigens and this may greatly influence their ability to activate platelets and their pathogenicity.     

Preparation of factor IX deficient human plasma by immunoaffinity chromatography using a monoclonal antibody

A murine hybridoma clone is described that grows continuously in culture and produces a monoclonal antibody we have called Royal Free Monoclonal Antibody to factor IX No. 1 (RFF-IX/1). This has high affinity for a coagulation site on factor IX. RFF-IX/1 immobilised on sepharose can be used to deplete factor IX from normal human plasma. This immunoaffinity depleted plasma is indistinguishable from severe Christmas disease plasma and can be used as the substrate in a one stage coagulation assay for factor IX. The affinity column has high capacity and can be regenerated so that large scale production from normal plasma of factor IX deficient plasma as a diagnostic reagent is now feasible.     

High-molecular-weight kininogen is exclusively membrane bound on endothelial cells to influence activation of vascular endothelium

An important biologic function of high-molecular-weight kininogen (HK) is to deliver bradykinin (BK) to its cellular receptors. Internalization and degradation of HK may provide a mechanism by which endothelial cells modulate the production of BK and control its activities. Therefore, we investigated the binding and subsequent distribution of biotinylated-HK (biotin-HK) associated with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). HUVEC bound 3 to 4 times more HK and with greater avidity at 1 to 3 hours at 37 degrees C than at 4 degrees C (Bmax = 1.0 +/- 0.02 x 10(7) molecules/cell, kd = 7 +/- 3 nmol/L v Bmax = 2.6 +/- 0.2 x 10(6) molecules/cell, kd = 46 +/- 8 nmol/L). However, there was no evidence that the difference was caused by internalization of HK at the higher temperature. First, the same amount of biotin-HK was associated with nonpermeabilized and permeabilized HUVEC using buffers containing 20 to 50 mumol/L zinc ion in the absence or presence of 2 mmol/L calcium ion. Second, binding of biotin-HK to HUVEC was approximately 92% reversible at 1 hour when the cells were maintained at both 37 degrees C and 4 degrees C. Third, neither chloroquine nor primaquine altered the amount of biotin-HK bound to HUVEC. Fourth, biotin-HK bound to HUVEC was almost completely removed by pronase. Fifth, the nonpermeable dye, crystal violet, almost completely quenched the fluorescence signal emitted by HUVEC-associated fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) HK. Finally, the localization of HUVEC-bound FITC-HK was restricted to the membrane as shown by laser scanning confocal microscopy. The expression of HK binding sites had an absolute requirement for metabolic energy, but was not dependent on new protein synthesis. Membrane-bound HK contributed to the anticoagulant nature of endothelial cells by blocking human alpha-thrombin binding and its resultant induction of prostacyclin formation. These studies indicate that HK is not internalized by HUVEC, but remains primarily on cell surfaces to be accessible for BK liberation and to modulate the binding and actions of alpha-thrombin.     

High molecular weight kininogen: localization in the unstimulated and activated platelet and activation by a platelet calpain(s)

High mol wt kininogen (HMWK), the major cofactor-substrate of the contact phase of coagulation, is contained within and secreted by platelets. Studies have been performed to localize platelet HMWK in both the unstimulated and activated platelet and to ascertain the effect of platelet enzymes on HMWK itself. On platelet subcellular fractionation, platelet HMWK was localized to alpha-granules, and platelets from a patient with a deficiency of these granules (gray platelet syndrome) had 28% normal platelet HMWK. Platelet HMWK, in addition to being secreted from the platelet, was also localized to the surface of the platelet when activated. Using a competitive enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay for HMWK as an indirect antibody consumption assay, the external membrane of thrombin-activated platelets as well as the releasate from these stimulated platelets had 17 ng HMWK antigen/10(8) platelets available, whereas unstimulated platelets and their supernatant had only 4.9 and 4.2 ng HMWK/10(8) platelets present, respectively. The anti-HMWK antibody consumption by activated normal platelets was specific for membrane-expressed platelet HMWK, since activated platelets from a patient with total kininogen deficiency did not adsorb the anti-HMWK antibody. Enzymes in the cytosolic fraction of platelets cleaved 125I-HMWK (mol wt 120,000) into a mol wt 100,000 polypeptide as well as smaller products at mol wt 74,000, mol wt 62,000, mol wt 47,000, and a few components below mol wt 45,000. No cleavage products were observed when DFP and leupeptin were present. The cleavage of HMWK was specifically prevented by inhibitors of calcium-activated cysteine proteases (leupeptin, N-ethylmaleimide, iodoacetamide, and EDTA) but not by inhibitors of serine proteases (DFP, benzamidine, soybean trypsin inhibitor, or aprotinin). Platelet cytosol increased the coagulant activity of exogenous purified HMWK with maximum HMWK coagulant activity (35-fold) occurring within ten minutes of exposure to platelet cytosol. Treatment of platelet cytosol with leupeptin prevented the increase in the coagulant activity of exogenous HMWK. These studies indicate that activated platelets express platelet HMWK on their external membrane and platelet enzymes can cleave and increase the coagulant activity of exogenous HMWK.     

Comparative tissue factor pathway inhibitor release potential of heparins.

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is released following the administration of unfractionated heparin, low-molecular-weight heparins, defibrotide and PI-88. In this study, the comparative effects of heparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin-gammaparin and a heparin-derived oligosaccharide mixture-subeparin (C3) were studied on functional and immunologic tissue factor pathway inhibitor activity levels in a non-human primate (Macaca mulatta) model. The dose-dependent effect was studied following intravenous and subcutaneous administration. Following the administration of 1 mg/kg of heparin, gammaparin, and C3, the functional levels of TFPI at 5 minutes were 2.40, 2.56, and 1.08 U/mL and the corresponding TFPI immunologic levels were 4.3-, 4.0-, and 2.1-fold, increased, respectively, over the baseline value. From these results, it can be concluded that heparin and gammaparin produced similar levels of TFPI release. Hence, gammaparin and heparin have similar TFPI release potential despite their differences in molecular weight. The influence of molecular weight, charge density, and interactions with heparin cofactor II on TFPI release are also discussed.