title: Pharmacology of recombinant hirudin.
abstract: Hirudin is the anticoagulative product of the salivary glands of the medical leech Hirudo medicinalis. It is characterized by a direct, bifunctional inhibition mechanism and a high, exclusive specificity and a strong ability to bind to thrombin (tight binding). Further characteristics are the organic-chemical structure of hirudin (peptide), which allows only parenteral administration; the missing metabolism in the organism; and the exclusive glomerular filtration of hirudin in kidneys as the effective elimination mechanism. Recombinant hirudin (r-hirudin) is a product of genetic engineering that is identical to the hirudin found in nature and has the same biochemical and pharmacological characteristics as natural hirudin.
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. ine@bug.mpg.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Götz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nowak
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D024764:Hirudin Therapy; D006629:Hirudins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D007865:Leeches; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D006629:Hirudins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins