Talk:Low molecular weight heparin
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Hi, I just have a correction to add.
I believe the statement below is not accurate:
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- "It is also more selective for thrombin and is a comparatively weak inhibitor of factor Xa"
Long chains of heparin (high molecular weight heparin) have the ability to inactivate thrombin because its long chain allows it to form a complex that 'wraps around' thrombin, thereby inactivating it. It also inactivates factor Xa enzymatically.
Low molecular weight heparin (chains shorter than 16 monomers), on the otherhand, can't complex with thrombin because it is too short, but it still retains the ability to inhbit factor Xa.
The website http://www.uspharmacist.com/oldformat.asp?url=newlook/files/feat/lmwh.htm mentions some of what i'm saying. (search for "factor xa" in that document)
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- Actually, what I said wasn't entirely correct. (bad memory)
- I looked up heparin in my book and was reminded that heparin complexes with antithrombin III (now called antithrombin), not thrombin. Antithrombin complexed with heparin can then inhibit thrombin. Tjsung 00:35, 11 August 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] References
This article needs one or more references to cover the content, added the tag. --FloNight 23:45, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Improvement in cancer prognosis
Fascinating: according to this paper we can improve cancer prognosis with LMWH. When that paper is printed we should cite it. JFW | T@lk 21:10, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
