THE SIMILAR EFFECT OF CHYLOMICRA AND ETHANOLAMINE PHOSPHATIDE ON THE GENERATION OF THROMBIN DURING COAGULATION

¹ The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford

1. The addition of rat chylomicra to plasma from which the particulate fat has been removed by high-speed centrifugation greatly increases the amount of thrombin formed in a thrombin generation test.

2. Several brain ethanolamine phosphatide preparations also markedly increase the amount of thrombin generated in similar tests. Serine phosphatide, inositol phosphatide and lecithin are inactive.

3. Acid hydrolysates of chyle contain a substance resembling ethanolamine in its ionophoretic and chromatographic behaviour. Also present are substances resembling choline and serine.

4. It is concluded that ethanolamine phosphatide is probably the phosphatide component of the chylomicron which is active in the coagulation tests.

Note:

The authors would like to thank Professor Sir Howard Florey for his continued advice and encouragement. They have benefited greatly from the advice of Dr. G. G. F. Newton and Mr. D. Dougall, and have had many helpful discussions with Dr. J. E. French and Dr. G. H. Jeffries. They thank Dr. R. M. C. Dawson, Dr. R. Dils and Dr. J. N. Hawthorne for gifts of cephalin preparations, and are indebted to Miss P. M. Harris and Mr. H. W. Wheal for their technical assistance.

A personal grant from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation Inc. to Miss P. M. Harris is gratefully acknowledged.