THE ACCELERATION OF THROMBUS FORMATION BY CERTAIN FATTY ACIDS*

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Abstract
By the Chandler technique "thrombi" can be made from blood in vitro. These thrombi have a platelet-leucocyte head and a fibrin tail. They closely resemble thrombi found in human thromboembolic disease. In this study Na salts of fatty acids (pH8) in physiological concentrations were added to human blood and the thrombus formation time determined. Seventeen subjects were tested on 37 different occasions. Venous blood was collected without syringes and processed in a completely silizonized system, NaCl (pH8), the control addition, produced no shortening of the thrombus formation time (mean = 8.3 min.). Saturated fatty acids from C6 to C22 caused a gradual acceleration of thrombus time as the chain length increased, i.e., C6 (7.8 min.), C8 (7.3[image]), C10 (7.3[image]), C12 (6.8[image]), C14 (5.3[image]), C16 (4.8[image]), C18 (2.9[image]), C20 (2.7[image]), and C22 (2.4[image]). Unsaturated, long chain fatty acids had no effects oleic (8.3 min.), linoleic (8.1[image]), linolenic (8.4[image]), and arachidonic (8.0[image]). Soybean phosphatide produced no acceleration. Glass particles, bentonite, and kaolin had the same accelerating effects as did C18 :0, C20 :0, and C22 :0. Studies with duck blood suggested that the mechanism whereby long chain, saturated fatty acids shorten the thrombus formation time was probably through the activation of the Hageman factor of plasma.