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Science 12 January 1940:
Vol. 91. no. 2350, pp. 48 - 50
DOI: 10.1126/science.91.2350.48
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Articles

STUDIES ON THE FATE OF PLASMA PROTHROMBIN

WILLIAM DE W. ANDRUS , JERE W. LORD JR. , and JOSEPH T. KAUER

The level of the plasma prothrombin in the circulating blood is decreased during its passage through the pulmonary capillaries. In 85 per cent. of samples, plasma prothrombin has been found to be less in the blood of the left ventricle than in that from the right ventricle. This difference averaged 10.6 per cent. and ranged from 4 to 19 per cent. In no instance was the level in the right ventricle lower than that in the left. In samples of blood taken from the arterial and venous supply of the head, liver, spleen, intestine, kidney and hind limbs, no significant difference in plasma prothrombin levels was found.

A possible explanation of this role of the lung in the loss of plasma prothrombin is thought to be the production of blood platelets in this organ, as demonstrated by Howell and Donahue. Platelets, as they undergo disintegration, initiate the first stage of the clotting process by releasing thromboplastin, which, in the presence of calcium, changes prothrombin to thrombin.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
PROTHROMBIN LEVEL OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD AND STERNAL MARROW.
N. ROSENTHAL, S. P. ZIMMERMAN, and S. SHAPIRO (1946)
Arch Intern Med 77, 420-427
   Abstract »    PDF »
INFARCTION OF THE LIVER AND HYPOPROTHROMBINEMIA: REPORT OF THEIR ASSOCIATION IN A NEWBORN INFANT WITH FAILURE OF VITAMIN K THERAPY.
L. KAPLAN, M. A. PERLSTEIN, and E. R. HESS (1943)
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 65, 258-264
   Abstract »    PDF »
BLOOD: REVIEW OF RECENT LITERATURE.
S. M. GOLDHAMER, C. C. STURGIS, and F. H. BETHELL (1941)
Arch Intern Med 67, 1177-1285
   Abstract »    PDF »
METABOLISM OF VITAMIN K AND ROLE OF THE LIVER IN PRODUCTION OF PROTHROMBIN IN ANIMALS.
J. W. LORD Jr., W. DeW. ANDRUS, and R. A. MOORE (1940)
Arch Surg 41, 585-595
   Abstract »    PDF »


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