Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Bee Venom Component Promotes Blood Clotting

Characterization of In Vitro Hemostatic Peptide Effects by Thromboelastography
Clin Appl Thromb Hemost, 2011 Aug 25

In this study, we validated a thromboelastography (TEG) method to evaluate the hemostatic effects of 3 peptides.

The first peptide is an ideal amphipathic peptide composed of 22 leucine and lysine in a ratio of 2:1. At a very low concentration, the peptide had a procoagulant effect shown by decreases in reaction time (R) and coagulation time (K) but was impaired by a decrease in maximum amplitude (MA). At higher concentrations, the peptide had an anticoagulant effect. The α angle was minimally affected by the peptide.

The second peptide is melittin derived from bee venom. Melittin showed procoagulant effects reflected by a decrease in clotting time but led to lower MA.

The third peptide derived from fibrinogen γ chain promoted hemostasis only at an optimal concentration and became anticoagulant at a higher concentration. The hemostatic mechanisms of each peptide were discussed.

Our study would facilitate further development of peptides for either hemorrhage control or thrombosis treatment.

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