This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Oral anticoagulation is commonly used to prevent and treat thrombophlebitis and prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation or with artificial heart valves. The test used to measure the intensity of anticoagulation is the INR (international normalized ratio). INR reagents currently available are particularly sensitive to blood clotting factor VII, a vitamin K-dependent clotting factor with a short half-life. Factor VII levels drop rapidly when oral anticoagulation is initiated. The functional levels of other coagulation factors, such as prothrombin, which have a longer half-life and do not drop as rapidly as factor VII, may more accurately reflect the intensity of anticoagulation, and, therefore, may more closely reflect the critical clinical outcomes of new blood clot formation and excessive bleeding. The goal of this research is to develop assays that reflect these other clotting factors. To this end we will collect plasma samples from normal controls and from patients stabilized on oral anticoagulation. These plasma samples will be used to develop and validate this new and potentially clinically useful family of INR tests. The patient studies will be performed in the GCRC of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the laboratory work will be performed in the Chemistry Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 209 publications
