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Thromb Haemost 1979; 42(02): 757-763
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1666914
Original Article
Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart

The Acelerating Effect of Fibrinogen and Early Fibrinogen Degradation Products on Erythrocyte Sedimentation

N A Marsh
The Department of Physiology, Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, Campden Hill Road, London W8 7AH, England
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Further Information

Publication History

Received 19 September 1978

Accepted 10 October 1978

Publication Date:
23 August 2018 (online)

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Summary

The fibrinogen molecule has a number of biological activities and some of these are shared by the larger degradation products. This study was carried out to investigate the erythrocyte sedimentation-accelerating property of fibrinogen and how this property might be modified by proteolytic digestion with plasmin.

The sedimentation rate of washed human red cells suspended in saline, was found to be directly proportional to the concentration of added purified human fibrinogen, down to 250 mg%, below which there was no difference from saline controls. Plasmic digestion of fibrinogen yielding fragment X, did not reduce the accelerating affect on erythrocyte sedimentation, indicating that the intact carboxyl terminal end of the Aα chain is unnecessary for this phenomenon. Further digestion to fragment Y reduced the effect slightly but digestion to fragments D and E abolished the accelerating effect completely.

 

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