The deleterious role of fibrin deposition in arthritic joints prompted us to explore the effect of the thrombin inhibition on the course of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in the mouse. CIA was induced in male DBA/1J mice using native chicken type II collagen. The thrombin inhibitor polyethyleneglycol-hirudin (PEG-hirudin) was given for 16 days, starting 20 days after the first immunization (p...

A novel recombinant hirudin, RGD-hirudin, inhibits the activity of thrombin and the aggregation of platelets. Here, we successfully expressed (15)N, (13)C-labeled RGD-hirudin in Pichia pastoris in a fermenter. The protein was subsequently purified to yield sufficient quantities for structural and functional studies. The purified protein was characterized by HPLC and MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy....

T he problem of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) among patients undergoing cardiac surgery is increasingly being appreciated. However, no safe standard anticoagulation strategy has been established for the management of these patients during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Recombinant hirudin (r-hirudin), a 65-amino acid polypeptide, is a direct thrombin inhibitor that has been used success...

BACKGROUND The Thrombolysis and Thrombin Inhibition in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) 9A trial compared the efficacy and safety of intravenous hirudin with heparin as adjunctive therapy to thrombolysis and aspirin in patients with acute myocardial infarction. The primary safety end point was the occurrence of major hemorrhage or anaphylaxis. METHODS AND RESULTS Based on experience in phase II t...

The article provides information on medical leeches that are suitable for treatment. Also, the authors studied effect of hirudin human body in different age, number and sessions required to obtain a therapeutic effect.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-hirudin is a derivative of hirudin with a long plasma half-life. We have compared the efficacy of PEG-hirudin with unfractionated heparin (UH) in preventing arterial thrombosis. Arterial thrombus formation was induced ex vivo in 12 healthy human volunteers by exposing a tissue factor-coated coverslip positioned in a parallel-plate perfusion chamber to flowing nonantico...

BACKGROUND The development of thrombocytopenia in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) appears to be associated with adverse clinical outcomes. Unfractionated heparin is a recognized cause of thrombocytopenia, but the incidence, predictors, and prognostic significance of thrombocytopenia during hirudin therapy in ACS have not been reported. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with ACS without ST elevation...

In intact porcine aorta, endothelium-derived nitric oxide released on thrombin stimulation inhibits the concomitant production of endothelin. Experiments were designed to examine the effect of hirudin (which inactivates thrombin) and the nitrovasodilators nitroglycerin and 3-morpholinosydnonimine on the spontaneous and thrombin-stimulated release of endothelin in intact blood vessels. Endotheli...

1. Through a set of preliminary injections of colloidal copper or hirudin, given from the second to the sixth day after transplantation, we can weaken the effect of injections of the same substances given from the ninth to the thirteenth day after transplantation. 2. Injections of colloidal copper given before the transplantation of the tumor lead to a weakening of the effect of injections give...

Background The degree to which antithrombotic drugs suppress thrombin generation is unknown. Because hirudin, unlike antithrombin III, binds intravascular thrombin rapidly and selectively to yield a circulating inactive complex of 3to 4-hour half-life, we used intravenous hirudin in humans to investigate the course of thrombin generation during and early after anticoagulation with this potent, ...