title: Blood coagulation and fibrinolysis during normal pregnancy.
abstract: Fifty-six pregnant women (gestational age 6-40 weeks) were evaluated for their coagulation activation (fibrin monomers and thrombin-antithrombin III complex) and for their fibrinolysis profile by determining tissue plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor, plasminogen, alpha 2-antiplasmin and D-dimer. Fibrin monomers and thrombin-antithrombin III complexes were found to be significantly increasing with gestational age. All the fibrinolytic parameters showed a steady growth with the progress of the pregnancy, with the exception of tissue plasminogen activator which showed a significant decrease with gestational age, but mainly within the reference range. These results suggest a stimulation of the coagulation system and an activation of fibrinolysis with ongoing pregnancy, although the increasing alpha 2-antiplasmin and plasminogen levels and the decreasing tissue plasminogen activator concentrations do not conform to this trend.
authors.affiliation: Haematological Laboratory, De Wever Hospital, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: van Wersch
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ubachs
mesh_terms: D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000378:metabolism; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005337:Fibrin / Q000378:metabolism; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000378:metabolism; D005342:Fibrinolysis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D010958:Plasminogen / Q000378:metabolism; D015849:Plasminogen Inactivators / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000097:blood; D000979:alpha-2-Antiplasmin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; D015849:Plasminogen Inactivators; D000979:alpha-2-Antiplasmin; C046193:antithrombin III-protease complex; C036309:fibrin fragment D; D000990:Antithrombin III; D005337:Fibrin; D010958:Plasminogen; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator