Summary
The ability to identify the products of thrombin and plasmin action on fibrinogen
is important in patients with thrombotic and fibrinolytic disorders. New assays have
been developed for “soluble fibrin” which represents soluble derivatives other than
fibrinopeptides formed from fibrinogen by thrombin. These assays are either immunological,
using antibodies for fibrin-specific neoepitopes, or functional and based on the cofactor
activity of soluble fibrin in the tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA)-mediated conversion
of plasminogen to plasmin. As plasmic derivations of fibrin share structural features
with soluble fibrin, they may be reactive with assays for soluble fibrin. Therefore,
we prepared plasmic digests of fibrin and determined the degree of reactivity with
four soluble fibrin assays. Three assays used Mabs directed toward the fibrin-specific
neoepitopes at α17-23 (A), γ312-324 (B) and α17-78 (D). A fourth (C) was based on
t-PA co-factor activity. Tests A and C demonstrated marked crossreactivity with fibrin
degradation products, and digests containing the largest derivatives showed greatest
reactivity. Plasmic derivatives of crosslinked fibrin had greater reactivity than
those of non-crosslinked fibrin. Tests B and D demonstrated minimal reactivity with
plasmic derivatives of crosslinked or of non-crosslinked fibrin. Samples from patients
with lower limb peripheral arterial occlusion were assayed for soluble fibrin, D-dimer
and fibrinogen at presentation and eight hours after thrombolytic therapy. Variable
results were seen at presentation with elevations in 13, 1, 0 and 4 of 19 patients
using Tests A, B, C and D, respectively. After fibrinolytic therapy, marked increases
in soluble fibrin levels were observed up to 600-fold above normal. A strong correlation
between baseline levels was observed with Test B and Test D, which showed the least
cross-reactivity with plasmic derivations. After thrombolytic therapy there were either
weak or no correlations among the different assays. The results demonstrate that assays
for soluble fibrin may react with plasmic derivatives of fibrin and this must be considered
in interpreting clinical results.
Keywords
Soluble fibrin - fibrin(ogen) degradation products - fibrinolysis - peripheral vascular
disease - fibrinolytic therapy - D-dimer