Summary
Thrombus formation at an artificial surface in contact with blood is a complex process
that encompasses accretion of platelets from flowing blood and fibrin deposition.
Platelet adhesion and fibrin formation are intimately intertwined reactions that are
triggered by different sets of surface adsorbed plasma proteins. To dissect the contribution
of protein adsorption and platelet adhesion to thrombin formation, a coherent study
was performed with non-coated (NC) and heparin-coated (HC) surfaces. Thrombin production
in whole blood, platelet adhesion and protein adsorption were studied using an amidolytic
thrombin assay, a dynamic platelet adhesion assay and ellipsometry, respectively.
Thrombin generation in flowing whole blood exposed to HC surfaces was greatly diminished
when compared with NC surfaces. However, separate platelet adhesion and protein adsorption
studies with anticoagulated whole blood revealed that platelets do not adhere because
fibrinogen is not available in the protein layer that was deposited during the perfusion.
These findings indicate that the in vitro thrombogenicity of a material cannot be
predicted from platelet adhesion and protein adsorption data when these measurements
are performed with anticoagulated blood or platelet rich plasma. Preincubation of
NC and HC surfaces with fibrinogen or 2000-fold diluted plasma resulted in similar
amounts of surface-bound fibrinogen and mediated massive platelet adhesion from flowing
whole blood. These results indicate that a) platelet adhesion correlates with the
availability of surface-bound fibrinogen and b) NC and HC surfaces are indistinguishable
with respect to protein (fibrinogen) adsorption and platelet adhesion. It is apparent
that the heparinized surface used in our studies exerts its anti-thrombogenic properties
by neutralizing locally formed thrombin and not by reducing fibrinogen-dependent platelet
adhesion.
Keywords
Heparin coating - artificial surface - fibrinogen - platelets - thrombin