Fibrinolysis

Comparative Fibrinolysis

Pharmacological Fibrinolysis

Until fairly recently, arteriosclerosis and its complications were philosophically accepted as an inevitable consequence of ageing; but the steady increase of coronary deaths in particular, and the equally steady decrease ^ the age of onset have put an end to such laissez-faire complacency. To Pinpoint the epidemic acceleration of coronary deaths, a senior colleague told me that when he took th...

Clotting and fibrinolysis.

Vascular disease accounts for more than 50% of deaths and in most cases the cause lies in obstruction to blood flow by the twin perils of atheroma formation and thrombosis. The major constituents of thrombi are platelets and fibrin, together with trapped red cells and other elements. Our main antithrombotic drugs are the antiplatelet agents to prevent platelets sticking together; anticoagulants...

Smoking and fibrinolysis.

In order to study the fibrinolytic activity of vein walls in smokers and nonsmokers, 71 randomly selected heavy smokers, i.e., smoking more than 15 g tobacco per day, and 41 nonsmokers from the population group "Men born in 1914 residing in Malmo" were invited to undergo a health examination. When examined after 12 hours' abstention from tobacco, the smokers were found to have the same fibrinol...

Biological role of fibrinolysis.

Fibrinolysis is a basic defence mechanism of the organism designed to control the deposition of fibrin in the vascular system and elsewhere. When thrombin is generated by the coagulation system it acts on fibrinogen and 'precipitates' it out of solution as a polymer-fibrin. This polymer deposition is regulated by the fibrinolytic system which acts on the insoluble protein fibrin and, by splitti...