title: Dynamic change of coagulation and anticoagulation markers of patients with acute cerebral infarction during intravenous urokinase thrombolysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The variations of blood coagulation and anticoagulation are of clinical importance in patients with acute cerebral infarction during intravenous urokinase (UK) thrombolysis. Although intravenous heparin is commonly used after thrombolytic therapy, few reports have addressed the relationship between the degree of anticoagulation and clinical outcomes, specifically the effect of thrombolytic agents on hemostasis. In this study, we dynamically monitored the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), the prothrombin time (PT), the thrombin time (TT) and the activated partial thromboplasmin time (APTT) in 56 patients with acute cerebral infarction during intravenous urokinase thrombolysis and analysed the relationship among the blood coagulation biomarkers (APTT, PT, TT, AT-III), as well as baseline patient characteristics and clinical outcomes. This allowed us to explore the valuable biomarkers for securing the thrombolysis regimen in clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  The levels of PT, APTT, TT and AT-III in peripheral blood of 56 patients with acute cerebral infarction and 50 normal controls were assayed by ELISA. Dynamic transformation of these markers at the baseline and the time points of the first, second, fourth, eighth, 12th, 24th, 48th, 72nd and 96th hour after intravenous UK thrombolysis was monitored serially. The relationship between the levels of these biomarkers and the clinical effectiveness and safety of urokinase thrombolysis was evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of PT, APTT, TT and AT-III in patients before intravenous UK thrombolysis were significantly lower than those in age- and sex-matched normal controls (all p<0.05). After treatment with UK, the levels of PT and APTT rose quickly during the first 4 hours (all p< 0.05), and then gradually recovered, reaching baseline at about the 48th hour. The activity of AT-III was slightly increased and showed fluctuations after UK infusion (p< 0.05), however the fluctuated range was not remarkable and lacked specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dynamic monitoring of PT, APTT and TT can indicate coagulative and anticoagulative functions of patients with acute cerebral infarction during intravenous urokinase thrombolysis. Monitoring of these markers can be helpful both in regulating the infusion speed and the dosage of UK, as well as increasing the efficacy and safety of UK therapy. However, assay for AT-III might be unnecessary.
authors.affiliation: Xuanwu Hospital, the Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China. Jixm70@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Xunming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D010314:Partial Thromboplastin Time / Q000379:methods; D011517:Prothrombin Time / Q000379:methods; D013918:Thrombin Time / Q000379:methods; D013925:Thromboplastin / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D013925:Thromboplastin; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator