Three dosages (0.3, 0.7, and 1.0 mg/kg) of recombinant hirudin, a specific inhibitor of thrombin, were compared with heparin (50 units/kg) and placebo for reducing thrombus formation in the carotid arteries of 50 pigs after deep injury by balloon dilatation. Each drug was administered as a bolus followed immediately by a continuous infusion of the same dose per hour. Major end points were quant...

BACKGROUND Arterial injury after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) triggers acute thrombus formation and thrombin generation. Hirudin, a potent and direct thrombin inhibitor, prevents thrombus formation after arterial injury. Two large clinical trials showed marked reduction in acute clinical events but no long-term benefits in reducing restenosis during short-term administr...

BACKGROUND-Intravascular clotting has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV). We previously identified the expression of tissue factor (TF), the primary cellular initiator of blood coagulation, within the coronary intima, which was associated with neointimal thickening. In the present study, the effect of recombinant hirudin on CAV was assessed in Lewis to F...

BACKGROUND Recombinant technology was used to produce a new anticoagulant that is preferentially localized and active at the site of the clot. METHODS AND RESULTS The variable regions of the heavy and light chains of a fibrin-specific antibody were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with hybridoma cDNA. To obtain a functional single-chain antibody (scFv), a linker region consisting ...

In this work, we hypothesize that a surface modified with both polyethylene glycol (PEG) and hirudin may provide a non-fouling, thrombin-neutralizing surface suitable for blood contacting applications. With gold as a model substrate we used two different approaches to the preparation of such a surface: (1) a "direct" method in which PEG was conjugated to hirudin and the conjugate was then immob...

AIMS Although hirudin is superior to unfractionated heparin for prevention of death, myocardial infarction, or refractory ischaemia in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome, it is not clear whether hirudin is also of benefit in acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing early percutaneous coronary intervention. METHODS AND RESULTS In the OASIS 2 trial, 10 141 patients with n...

Hematophagous leeches express a broad variety of secretory factors in their salivary glands; among them are hirudins, inhibitors blood coagulation, and decorsins/ornatins, platelet aggregation. Here, we describe the identification molecular functional characterization putative hirudins decorsins/ornatins two leech species American origin, Limnobdella mexicana Haementeria vizottoi. The represent...

Thrombin bound to a fibrin clot remains active and poorly accessible to heparin-AT III complex. During fibrinolysis, thrombin is released as thrombin-FDP complex and is inactivated by heparin-AT III. However, as successive fibrin layers are removed, inaccessible molecules of thrombin are exposed at the surface of the residual clot, possibly contributing to the occurrence during thrombolytic the...