Effect of circulating tissue factor on hypercoagulability in type 2 diabetes mellitus studied by rheometry and dielectric blood coagulometry.

Background: Hypercoagulability in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients increases their risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: The aim of this work was to investigate the hypercoagulation mechanism in T2DM patients in terms of circulating tissue factor (TF).

Methods: Whole blood coagulation tests by damped oscillation rheometry and dielectric blood coagulometry (DBCM) were performed.

Heterogeneous phase fibrinolysis rates by damped oscillation rheometry.

Background: Devices gauging viscoelastic properties of blood during coagulation like the thromboelastograph support fundamental research as well as point of care needs. Associated fibrinolysis data are based on endogenous species or plasminogen activator added to a homogeneous sample prior to clot formation. Digestion in a monolithic structure differs from the physical situation of thrombolytic therapy where surface reactions dominate.

Dielectric coagulometry: a new approach to estimate venous thrombosis risk.

We present dielectric coagulometry as a new technique to estimate the risk of venous thrombosis by measuring the permittivity change associated with the blood coagulation process. The method was first tested for a simple system of animal erythrocytes suspended in fibrinogen solution, where the coagulation rate was controlled by changing the amount of thrombin added to the suspension. Second, the method was applied to a more realistic system of human whole blood, and the inherent coagulation process was monitored without artificial acceleration by a coagulation initiator.

Rheological analyses of coagulation of blood from different individuals with special reference to procoagulant activity of erythrocytes.

In our previous papers, we reported that factor IX (FIX), when activated by erythrocyte membranes, causes coagulation. We have identified and characterized the FIX-activating enzyme located in normal human erythrocyte membranes. In this paper, to examine physiological and pathological significances of procoagulant activity of erythrocytes, coagulation of blood obtained from different individuals was analyzed by means of a rheological technique.

Gelation dynamics and gel structure of fibrinogen.

Gelation dynamics and gel structure of fibrinogen induced by serine protease, thrombin, was investigated by light scattering, real space observation using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and turbidity. Effects of additives, such as (linear) saccharides, glucose to dextran, and cyclodextrin, were studied focusing on the interaction with fibrin(ogen) and thrombin. Light scattering measurement was ascertained to be able to characterize the gelation process and growth kinetics.

Effects of thermal annealing of segmented-polyurethane on surface properties, structure and antithrombogenicity.

Analyses of the surface structure and properties of thermally heat-treated and non-treated segmented-polyurethane (SPU) surfaces showed that a crystalline structure, the domain size of which was larger than that of the micro-phase separation structure, appeared when the SPU surface was annealed in the temperature range of 60-140 degrees C. The appearance of the crystalline structure resulted in a decrease in surface free energy, that is, an increase in the hydrophobicity of the surface. Whole blood or platelet-rich plasma (PRP), when in contact with a SPU surface, which had previously been in contact with a glass surface during casting, coagulation of the whole blood occurred within approximately 30 min and, in case of PRP, in approximately 60 min.

Purification, identification, and characterization of elastase on erythrocyte membrane as factor IX-activating enzyme.

In our previous papers, we reported that factor IX (F-IX), when activated by erythrocyte membranes, causes coagulation. We report on purification, identification, and characterization of F-IX-activating enzyme extracted from human erythrocyte membranes. The enzyme whose amino acid sequence is almost in accord with neutrophil elastase was found in normal erythrocyte membrane.

In vitro and in vivo study of ion-implanted collagen for the substrate of small diameter artificial grafts.

Ion implantation into the collagen-coated inner surface of the grafts was performed and evaluated in vitro and in vivo to develop small diameter artificial vascular grafts. He+ ion implanted collagen-coated grafts with a fluence of 1 x 1014 ions/cm2 inhibited platelet adhesion and demonstrated patency for 240 days in an animal study. The platelet adhesion test using platelet rich plasma (PRP) showed antithrombogenicity at the fluence of 1 x 1014 ions/cm2.

Formation of fibrin gel in fibrinogen-thrombin system: static and dynamic light scattering study.

The dynamics of thrombin-induced fibrin gel formation was investigated by means of static and dynamic light scattering. The decay time distribution function, obtained by the dynamic light scattering, clearly revealed a stepwise gelation process: the formation of fibrin and protofibril from fibrinogen followed by the lateral aggregation of protofibrils to form fibrin fibers and the formation of a three-dimensional network consisting of fibers. This conversion process was correlated with the angular dependence of the scattered light intensity (static light scattering).

Microscopic velocimetry with a scaled-up model for evaluating a flow field over cultured endothelial cells.

A microscopic velocimetry technique for evaluating the flow field over cultured endothelial cells was developed. Flow around a cell model scaled up by a factor of 100 was visualized by using an optical microscope and was quantified by using particle-tracking velocimetry. Wall shear stress on the model surface was determined from a two-dimensional velocity field interpolated from measured velocity vectors.