Measurement of Maximum Thrombin Generation Capacity in Blood and Plasma Using the Thrombin Generation Assay (THROGA)

ABSTRACT

Diagnosis of a hyper- or hypocoagulable state has been very difficult. The first attempt to solve this problem was the method of endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) by Hemker. In ETP, activators and a chromogenic substrate are added to diluted plasma samples and the thrombin generation is measured. By analysis of acquired data, three characteristics of ETP are seen: lag phase, peak thrombin, and velocity index. ETP is not suited for exact determination of maximum activated thrombin. Therefore, a new method was developed: the thrombin generation assay (THROGA). With the use of THROGA, the maximum generated thrombin in a blood or plasma sample can be measured easily. The background of the method is the addition of a certain amount of recombinant hirudin (r-hirudin) to the blood or plasma sample. After activation, the generated thrombin is bound quantitatively and neutralized by r-hirudin so that at the end of the activation phase the amount of generated thrombin can be determined easily and exactly by measurement of residual r-hirudin in the sample.

KEYWORDS

Thrombin generation assay (THROGA) - thrombin generation capacity - drug monitoring - r-hirudin - global coagulation state

REFERENCES

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