title: Treatment and prothrombin responses during warfarin toxicosis in rats and mice.
abstract: Efficacy of whole blood, vitamin K-3 and vitamin K-1 treatment during warfarin feeding was investigated in rats and mice. Prolonged prothrombin times were observed in mice after 9--12 h of warfarin feeding. Prothrombin times greater than 300 sec were consistently observed in mice on continuous warfarin feeding and receiving whole blood or vitamin K-3 treatment. Withdrawal of warfarin resulted in normal prothrombin times after 96 h in mice receiving no treatment, 48--72 h on whole blood and 48 h in mice treated with 72 mg vitamin K-3/kg of body wt./day. Marked protection against warfarin induced hypoprothrombinemia and mortality occurred in mice treated with 5 mg vitamin K-1/kg/day. Treatment with 72 mg vitamin K-1/kg/day resulted in rapid alleviation of hypoprothrombinemia and prolonged protection against warfarin toxicosis. Intraperitoneal administration of 72 mg/kg/day of vitamin K-1 or vitamin K-3 were not toxic to mice. Mortality was consistently higher in mice given warfarin continually and in those receiving the greater number of treatments. Frequent handling appears to aggrevate warfarin toxicosis.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011517:Prothrombin Time; D051381:Rats; D014812:Vitamin K / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014859:Warfarin / Q000506:poisoning*
chemical_list: D014812:Vitamin K; D014859:Warfarin