BACKGROUND G20210A prothrombin mutation has been associated with high prothrombin levels and an increased risk of venous thrombosis. The role of this common polymorphism, as well as that of prothrombin levels, in determining the risk of arterial disease is still somewhat controversial. METHODS AND RESULTS We determined the prevalence of the G20210A mutation and prothrombin activity in 660 ind...

In the human circulation, factor VII is present in relatively low plasma concentration (0.01 microM) and has been reported to have a short half-life (t(1/2); 6 h). In contrast, prothrombin is present in a relatively high plasma concentration (2 microM) and has a relatively long catabolic half-life (t(1/2) = approximately 2-3 days). This report examines the metabolic characteristics of purified ...

Microglia, the major immune effector cells in the CNS, become activated when the brain suffers injury. In this study, we observed that prothrombin, a zymogen of thrombin, induced NO release and mRNA expression of inducible NO synthase, IL-1beta, and TNF-alpha in rat brain microglia. The effect of prothrombin was independent of the protease activity of thrombin since hirudin, a specific inhibito...

Association studies suggest that the G20210A mutation (G to A substitution at nucleotide position 20210) in the prothrombin gene (PT) is associated with increased plasma prothrombin activity and with increased risk for venous thromboembolism. To test directly for linkage between this PT variant and plasma prothrombin activity we performed a family-based study. The G20210A genotypes and plasma p...

Staphylocoagulases of Staphylococcus aureus (40 strains originally isolated from horses, dogs, cats, cows, sheep, opossums, pigs, humans, and a goat) and Staphylococcus intermedius (19 isolates from dogs and 1 pigeon strain) were tested for their affinity to prothrombins of either bovine or human origin. The tests used were the coagulase tube test (using human, bovine, or equine fibrinogen with...

W ITH increasing use of tests of the prothrombin concentration as an aid in the diagnosis of diseases of the liver and as a guide in vitamin K and dicumarol therapy,’6 it is imperative that the determinations be accurate. There are many ways of measuring the prothrombin concentration and each admits of numerous sources of error. Even when the most careful technic is practiced, appreciable error...

Although considerable progress has been achieved in the study of the coagulation of plasma by staphylocoagulase, the precise identity of the coagulase-reacting factor (CRF) has remained in doubt. The claims linking CRF with various factors involved in the dotting of blood have been recently summarized elsewhere (1). Questions pertaining to the possible relation of CRF to prothrombin have remain...

Since the discovery (Soulier and Gueguen, 1947) that phenylindanedione (P.I.D.) was an anticoagulant which effectively altered the one-stage prothrombin time it has been used extensively in the treatment of cases of thrombosis (Blaustein, 1950; Blaustein, Shnayerson, and Wallach, 1953; Dennis, Coon, Hodgson, and Duff, 1952; Toohey, 1953). Clinically it appears to produce the same effect as dico...

We have investigated the pathway of prothrombin activation in blood and plasma. By means of a rapid purification procedure involving chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and hydroxyapatite, we demonstrated that the major prothrombin fragment in serum is that representing the amino-terminal half of prothrombin (i.e. F1-2). The F1-2 isolated was characterized by its size, amino acid and antigenic com...