Background: Whether anticoagulant therapy should be used after spinal-cord injury (SCI) surgery was controversial. The anticoagulation characteristics of a newly developed anticoagulant, recombinant neorudin (EPR-hirudin (EH)), were explored using a rat model of SCI to provide a basis for clinical anticoagulation therapy of SCI.
Methods: A rat model of SCI was developed by Allen’s method. Then, thrombosis in the inferior vena cava was induced by ligation. The low-bleeding characteristics of EH were explored by investigating dose–response and time–effect relationships, as well as multiple administration of EH, on thrombus formation complicated with SCI.
Results: EH inhibited thrombosis in a dose-dependent manner by reducing the wet weight and dry weight of the thrombus. An inhibiting action of EH on thrombosis was most evident in the group given EH 2 h after SCI. After multiple intravenous doses of EH, thrombosis inhibition was improved to that observed with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) (87% vs 90%). EH administration after SCI neither increased bleeding in the injured spine nor damaged to nerve function. Bleeding duration and activated partial thromboplastin time were increased in the high-dose EH group compared with that in the normal-saline group, but were lower than those in the LMWH group.
Conclusion: EH can reduce thrombus formation in a rat model of SCI, and bleeding is decreased significantly compared with that using LMWH. EH may prevent thrombosis after SCI or spinal surgery.
Keywords: recombinant neorudin, rat model, thrombosis, spinal-cord injury, low-bleeding anticoagulation