Anti-thrombotic and haemorrhagic effects of active site-inhibited factor VIIa in rats

Active site-inhibited factor VIIa (FFR-rFVIIa) competes with factor VIIa (FVIIa) for binding to tissue factor (TF) and exerts an anti-thrombotic effect. We report an evaluation of the anti-thrombotic properties of FFR-rFVIIa in a model of thrombosis involving two thrombogenic surfaces. Uncoated glass capillaries or glass capillaries coated with TF were incorporated into an arterioarterial shunt in the rat and the occlusion time (OT) of the shunt was determined. An anti-thrombotic activity of FFR-rFVIIa was shown only on the TF-coated surface: the OT of the shunt was significantly prolonged, from 167 +/- 34 s in control animals to 312 +/- 42 s after i.v. bolus administration of 4 mg/kg FFR-rFVIIa. This OT was similar to those observed with the uncoated shunts in untreated animals (353 +/- 84 s). In vitro preincubation of the TF-coated shunt with FFR-rFVIIa significantly prolonged the OT to 245 +/- 45 s in the absence of detectable amounts of FFR-rFVIIa in the plasma. rFFR-rFVIIa weakly prolonged the tail template bleeding time by a factor of 1.5. This effect was more pronounced in animals pretreated with heparin. The anti-thrombotic and prohaemorrhagic effects of FFR-rFVIIa were totally reversed by administration of an equidose of rFVIIa. These results provide new information on the pharmacological properties of FFR-rFVIIa that will be useful for its clinical development.