Summary
An increasing amount of evidence suggests that coagulation factors VIII and IX play
a role not only in the intrinsic but also in the extrinsic pathway of coagulation.
In this context the influence of the Extrinsic Pathway Inhibitor (EPI) on the coagulation
time of hemophilia plasma lacking FVIII or FIX has been investigated. The coagulation
time was measured in a dilute thromboplastin assay. Addition of recombinant EPI (rEPI)
prolonged the coagulation time of normal plasma while the addition of an inhibitory
antibody against EPI shortened the coagulation time. At low concentrations of thromboplastin
the coagulation time of hemophilia plasma was prolonged and at all dilutions of thromboplastin,
addition of anti-EPI IgG normalized the coagulation time of a hemophilia plasma. Analysis
of 10 individual donor plasma samples and 8 individual hemophilia samples showed that
addition of anti-EPI IgG shortened the coagulation time more in hemophilia plasma
than in normal plasma. This illustrates the importance of a powerful extrinsic FVII
dependent pathway to achieve hemostasis in the case of FVIII or FIX deficiency (hemophilia
A and B).