Antithrombotic agents from salivary glands of hematophagous animals

The introduction of thrombolytic agents and adjunctive anticoagulant therapy in acute myocardial infarction and heparin-aspirin combinations in unstable angina have resulted in major gains in the acute management of these disorders; however, it is widely believed that available therapeutic agents, such as streptokinase and tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), anticoagulants, such as heparin, and antiplatelet agents, such as aspirin, may not possess the optimal efficacy and safety profile. A major surge was initiated to identify alternative thrombolytic and antithrombotic drugs, and as a part of these efforts the isolation and characterization of protein salivary anticoagulants from hematophagous animal species has assumed importance. In the following, we briefly review these proteins and the development of peptides and peptidomimetic compounds based on their structures and discuss the potential utility of these compounds in cardiovascular disease therapy.