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The procoagulant effect of zinc on fibrin clot formation
Author(s) -
Marx Gerard,
Eldor Amiram
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american journal of hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1096-8652
pISSN - 0361-8609
DOI - 10.1002/ajh.2830190207
Subject(s) - thrombin , chemistry , fibrin , fibrinogen , clotting time , zinc , oxalate , biochemistry , biophysics , endocrinology , coagulation , medicine , inorganic chemistry , immunology , platelet , biology , organic chemistry
The influence of Zn +2 on fibrin clot formation was investigated by measuring its effect on the clotting times of fibrinogen exposed to thrombin. It was observed with either human or bovine thrombin that 0.01‐0.1 mM Zn +2 induced significant reductions of clotting times in a concentration‐dependent manner. The procoagulant effect of Zn +2 occurred in the presence of Ca +2 but was inhibited by metal chelating agents. Higher levels of Zn +2 (> 0.2 mM final concentration) were required to accelerate thrombin‐induced clot formation in the presence of citrate or oxalate. Similarly with oxalated human plasma, > 0.2 mM Zn +2 decreased the clotting time. Cations such as Mg +2 and Mn +2 caused little change in clotting times. As an extension of these findings, we examined the effect of Zn +2 on the in hibition of thrombin by antithrombin‐III (AT‐III). The presence of as little as 0.006 mM Zn +2 in an incubating mixture of thrombin and AT‐III severely reduced the inhibitory activity of AT‐III towards thrombin. It was observed that the relative intrinsic fluorescence emission of human thrombin decreased upon exposure to Zn +2 but was unaffected by Mg +2 or Mn +2 . It is suggested that Zn +2 can form a complex with thrombin, which results in altered reactivity towards fibrinogen and decreased inhibition by AT‐III.