title: Comparison of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 with thrombin-antithrombin III complex in plasma of patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation.
abstract: Plasma levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2) and thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) are thought to be specific indicators of thrombin generation. To assess whether these two parameters behave similarly in vivo, we compared the plasma levels of F1 + 2 with TAT in 41 patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Both F1 + 2 and TAT were markedly elevated in patients with DIC compared to healthy subjects. Although a positive correlation was found between F1 + 2 and TAT (r = 0.585, P < 0.001) there was a large scatter among individuals. In addition, plasma concentrations of TAT were much lower than F1 + 2. The correlation between the TAT/F1 + 2 ratio and antithrombin III was weak (r = -0.268, P = 0.09). The TAT/F1 + 2 ratio was positively correlated with TAT (r = 0.481, P = 0.002), indicating that the difference in molar concentrations between F1 + 2 and TAT decreased as the TAT value increased. Serial determinations of these parameters showed that plasma TAT values changed roughly in parallel with F1 + 2 in the majority of patients. Although further studies are required to further clarify the observed differences between F1 + 2 and TAT, both parameters would be equally useful for the precise detection of haemostatic activation in patients with DIC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Niigata University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niwano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shibata
mesh_terms: D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000032:analysis*; D001780:Blood Coagulation Tests; D004211:Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation / Q000097:blood*; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis*; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000032:analysis*; D010976:Platelet Count; D011486:Protein C / Q000032:analysis; D011516:Prothrombin / Q000032:analysis*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis; D018179:Receptors, Thrombin
chemical_list: D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011486:Protein C; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D018179:Receptors, Thrombin; C046193:antithrombin III-protease complex; C036309:fibrin fragment D; C045879:prothrombin fragment 1.2; D000990:Antithrombin III; D011516:Prothrombin; D005340:Fibrinogen; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases