R-Hirudin as Anticoagulant in Regular Hemodialysis Therapy: Finding of Therapeutic R-Hirudin Blood/Plasma Concentrations and Respective Dosages

Generation of anti-hirudin antibodies in heparin-induced thrombocytopenic patients treated with r-hirudin.

BACKGROUND Hirudin is a small protein with strong thrombin inhibition that may be antigenic. The generation and disappearance of anti-hirudin antibodies were investigated in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia who were treated with recombinant hirudin (r-hirudin) for >/=5 days. METHODS AND RESULTS The IgA, IgE, IgG, and IgM isotypes of anti-hirudin antibodies were determined by ELI...

Treatment of an acute flush reaction caused by subcutaneous r-hirudin with pegylated hirudin.

We report a patient who was treated with recombinant (r)-hirudin for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and developed a flush reaction twice upon re-exposure to 25 mg of subcutaneous r-hirudin. Antihirudin IgG antibodies developed. The patient received 50 mg of PEG-hirudin subcutaneously over 2 days. No side-effects occurred. The level of IgG antihirudin antibodies increased. Ecarin clotting time...

Hirudin as an anticoagulant for both haematology and chemistry tests

Hirudin, an extract from the leech, has powerful antithrombin activity affecting the blood coagulation pathway. We evaluated the usefulness of hirudin in anticoagulating specimens for routine laboratory tests. Results using blood anticoagulated with hirudin corresponded well with results with blood treated with ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the complete blood count (CBC), including...

Anticoagulant activity of synthetic hirudin peptides.

Synthetic peptides based on the COOH-terminal 21 residues of hirudin were prepared in order to 1) evaluate the role of this segment in hirudin action toward thrombin, 2) define the shortest peptide derivative with anticoagulant activity, and 3) investigate the role of tyrosine sulfation in the peptides' inhibitory activities. A hirudin derivative of 20 amino acids, Hir45-64 (derived from residu...

Therapeutic levels of recombinant hirudin.