Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin which promotes a variety of neural processes ranging from neuronal health to the survival in the peripheral and central nervous systems. There is interest in serum BDNF as a potential biomarker of anxiety disorders in pet dogs for veterinary and comparative behavior research. As an initial step in applying BDNF in canine research, work ...

Incipient clot formation in whole blood and fibrin gels was studied by the rheometric techniques of controlled stress parallel superposition (CSPS) and small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS). The effects of unidirectional shear stress on incipient clot microstructure, formation kinetics and elasticity are reported in terms of the fractal dimension (df) of the fibrin network, the gel network f...

BACKGROUND Blood bank recommendations specify that Ringer's lactate solution (LR) should be avoided while transfusing blood. However, there are few studies either evaluating or quantifying increased coagulation during rapid infusion of LR and blood. DESIGN AND METHODS Whole blood (WB, n = 25) and packed red blood cells (PRBC, n = 26) were rapidly admixed with normal saline (NS), Lactate solut...

INTRODUCTION We investigated the effect of progressive haemodilution on the dynamics of fibrin clot formation and clot microstructure using a novel rheological method. The technique measures clotting time (TGP), clot strength (G`GP), and quantifies clot microstructure (df) at the incipient stages of fibrin formation. We use computational modelling to examine the relationship between structure a...

A useful method for isolating and recognizing Haemophilus ducreyi from chancres and buboes of male patients is presented. A total of 41 clinical isolates of H. ducreyi were recovered from 33 patients over an 8-year period, and the experience with the 15 most recent isolates is presented in detail. Chocolate agar supplemented with 1% Iso VitaleX and 5% sheep blood agar were prepared, using Trypt...

I N PREVIOUS REPORTS1-3 various methods, including radiotracer studies, revealed the capacity of plasmin to adsorb selectively to preformed venous and arterial clots. Components of the fibrinolysin system were labeled with iodine131 and their distribution studied following intravenous administration. The highest degree of adsorption to fibrin clots was exhibited by human plasminogen activated w...

We have studied the contribution of platelets to the coagulation of plasma and the effects of activation or inhibition of platelets on the coagulation process in unanticoagulated fresh whole blood (subsequently termed native blood). For this purpose, we have used a free oscillation rheometer (FOR), the ReoRox4, a new instrument that enables noninvasive viscoelastic measurements of clot formatio...

In 97 adult patients receiving liver transplants, the coagulation system was monitored by thrombelastography and by coagulation profile including PT; aPTT; platelet count; level of factors I, II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII; fibrin degradation products; ethanol gel test; protamine gel test; and euglobulin lysis time. Preoperatively, fibrinolysis defined as a whole blood clot lysis index of...

Prourokinase (proUK) is a zymogenic plasminogen activator that at pharmacological doses is prone to nonspecific activation to urokinase. This has handicapped therapeutic exploitation of its fibrin-specific physiological properties. To attenuate this susceptibility without compromising specific activation of proUK on a fibrin clot, a Lys300-->His mutation (M5) was developed. M5 had a lower intri...

Atherothrombotic diseases such as myocardial or cerebral infarction are serious consequences of the thrombus formed in blood vessels. Thrombolytic agents are used to dissolve the already formed clots in the blood vessels. However, these drugs have certain limitations which cause serious and sometimes fatal consequences. Herbal preparations have been used since ancient times for the treatment of...