Determination of fibrin clot growth and spatial thrombin propagation in the presence of different types of phospholipid surfaces.

In this work, we present a new method-Thrombodynamics-4D-for the assessment of both plasma and platelet contributions to clotting. Thrombodynamics-4D potentially allows for the determination of plasma or platelet disorders and the effects of various drugs on plasma clotting or on platelet procoagulant function. In this assay, clot formation in platelet-rich plasma or platelet-free plasma supplemented with phospholipids is activated with tissue factor immobilized on a surface. Spatial fibrin clot growth and thrombin concentration dynamics are registered by measuring light scattering of the fibrin clot and fluorescence of the product formed by cleavage of the synthetic fluorogenic substrate by thrombin, respectively. Here, we describe the preanalytical requirements, measurement methodology and calculation principles of assay parameters. Preanalytical and analytical variability and reference ranges of the assay are given. Additionally, we show some clinical examples, which determine the effect of anticoagulants, measure clotting dysfunction in patients with platelet or coagulation disorders and evaluate the effect of surgery.

Binding of Coagulation Factor XIII Zymogen to Activated Platelet Subpopulations: Roles of Integrin αIIbß3 and Fibrinogen.

Factor XIIIa (fXIIIa) is a transglutaminase that plays a crucial role in fibrin clot stabilization and regulation of fibrinolysis. It is known to bind to procoagulant platelets. In contrast, the zymogen fXIII interaction with platelets is not well characterized. We investigated the interaction of zymogen fXIII with activated platelet subpopulations. Confocal microscopy and flow cytometry using fluorescently labelled factors and antibodies. Phosphatidylserine (PS)-positive activated platelets bound 700 to 800 molecules/cell of fXIII at 100 nM, while both PS-negative activated platelets and resting platelets bound 200 to 400 molecules/cell. The binding was reversible, calcium-independent and linear within the fXIII concentration range of up to 1,000 nM. fXIII predominantly bound to the caps of procoagulant platelets and co-localized with fibrinogen. Exogenous fibrinogen promoted fXIII binding by activated PS-negative platelets; this effect was abolished by the integrin αIIbß3 antagonist monafram. The fXIII binding was 1.5- to 3-fold decreased for platelets from four patients with grey platelet syndrome, and was variable for platelets from six patients with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. Strong platelet stimulation, fibrinogen and αIIbß3 play essential roles in fXIII binding, without any of them fXIII does not bind to platelets. The preferential binding in the cap-like structures might be important for increasing local fXIII concentration in platelet thrombi.

Drug-drug interaction of the anti-TFPI aptamer BAX499 and factor VIII: studies of spatial dynamics of fibrin clot formation in hemophilia A.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, a number of tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) antagonists have been developed to serve as bypassing agents to improve hemostasis in hemophilia A. Since TFPI antagonists and FVIII concentrates are procoagulants, their combined effect on spatial clot formation could be potentially pro-thrombotic. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cooperative effect of TFPI inhibition and supplementation of FVIII in hemophilia A in a spatial, reaction-diffusion experiment in vitro. METHODS: Plasma was collected at different time points from hemophilia A patients undergoing prophylaxis and was supplemented in vitro with TFPI inhibitor BAX499 (formerly ARC19499) at concentrations from 0 up to 600nM. Clotting propagation in recalcified plasma activated by a surface with immobilized tissue factor (TF) was monitored by videomicroscopy. RESULTS: Increasing concentration of BAX499 improved coagulation for all hemophilia A plasma samples activated with TF at 1.6pmole/m(2) by shortening lag time and increasing initial clot growth velocity and clot size. In contrast, plasma concentration of FVIII had little effect on lag time, but increased spatial clot growth velocity. There was a decrease in the BAX499 efficiency as FVIII concentration increased (lag time shortened by 50% if FVIII:C<5%, but the effect was only 25% if FVIII:C>30%). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that BAX499 has an effect on clotting in hemophilia A plasma at low FVIII concentrations, however has little effect at high FVIII concentrations.

Investigation of the phenotype heterogeneity in severe hemophilia A using thromboelastography, thrombin generation, and thrombodynamics.

BACKGROUND: Hemophilia A (HA) patients with similar factor VIII levels can demonstrate varying bleeding tendencies. In particular, 10-15% of all severe HA patients (FVIII:C<1IUdL(-1)) do not require regular replacement therapy. Modern global coagulation assays can help to detect and study this "mild" bleeding phenotype. Here, we investigated the coagulation status of different bleeding phenotypes using various types of global coagulation assays. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten HA patients with severe phenotype and eleven patients with mild phenotypes were included in the study. For each patient, thromboelastography (TE), thrombodynamics (TD), and kaolin- or tissue factor-induced thrombin generation (TG) were measured. TG in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) was investigated using our original modification when the thrombin generation curve showed two peaks, previously shown to depend on platelet activity. We also utilized TG and TD with the addition of thrombomodulin. RESULTS: The second peak amplitude and ETP of PRP TG were the only parameters that were significantly higher in mild bleeders (peak 41.6 ± 3.5 nM, ETP 1966 ± 169 nM*min) than in patients with severe bleeding (peak 28.3 ± 3.3 nM, ETP 1359 ± 130 nM*min). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that severe and mild HA phenotypes could be distiguished by TG assay in PRP suggesting that difference in platelet activity can be involved in the phenotype formation. According to our previous results we can suppose that the mechanism of the phenotypic heterogeneity is linked with TG mediated by PS-expressing platelets.