Blood clots present a significant danger and can cause heart attacks or strokes. One way to treat patients at risk is through the use of blood thinners.
Millions of people are prescribed blood thinners each year to treat conditions such as clotting disorders and atrial fibrillation. In addition, such drugs are used after knee and hip replacement surgery for the prevention of blood clots.
Blood thinners do not actually ‘thin the blood’; they are commonly anticoagulants. These drugs slow down the speed at which the blood can clot.
A downside with blood thinners is that many carry the risk of uncontrolled bleeding, among other side-effects. Medical advice should always be sought when using blood thinners.
To overcome the uncontrolled bleeding hazard, researchers have used a new antibody that prevents blood clots from forming without carrying the risk of spontaneous bleeding. The antibody is described as an antidote that can quickly reverse the effects of blood thinning.
The antibody binds to coagulation factor Xla (FXla), which is a protein that plays a key role in the formation of blood clots. This coagulation factor has been seen as a key target for many years; however, it has proved difficult to inhibit factor XIa once the clotting process has started. The use of the new antibody overcomes this and can prevent blood clots from forming.
The new antibody has been tested out using animal models (mice and rabbits) and it has subsequently been used in human trials. It is hoped to use the antibody in a new class of blood thinners.
The research has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research is titled “Factor XIa–specific IgG and a reversal agent to probe factor XI function in thrombosis and hemostasis.”
