DOAC-stop can remove direct oral anticoagulants and allow analysis by global coagulation assays

Activated charcoal based compounds such as DOAC-stop™ (DS) have been developed to remove direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) interference in-vitro. However, few studies have used this approach with global coagulation assays (GCAs), such as thrombin generation assays, which are sensitive to the effect of DOACs.

Thrombin generation with and without thrombomodulin (TM) via the automated ST-Genesia system, and the overall haemostatic potential (OHP) assay, a spectrophotometric fibrin generation assay in which fibrin formation (triggered by small amounts of thrombin (overall coagulation potential, OCP)) and fibrinolysis (by the addition of thrombin and tissue plasminogen activator) were measured on (i) pooled normal plasma (PNP) spiked with varying amounts of rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran, and (ii) platelet poor plasma (PPP) from 21 non-anticoagulated adults, before and after DS addition.

Following the addition of DS to spiked PNP without thrombomodulin, thrombin and velocity index increased by 21.9% and 42.6%, respectively, while ETP increased by 6.93%. A decrease in OCP (-10.6%) and OHP (-12.7%) was observed following DS. Similar changes were seen post-DS to plasma from non-anticoagulated patients. Also in this group, pre- and post-DS thrombin generation parameters showed high correlation, with the strongest observed for ETP (R²  = 0.94). There was a strong correlation for OHP parameters, with the closest seen with OCP (R²  = 0.96) and OHP (R²  = 0.95).

DS causes some changes to the ETP and OHP assay, however, strong correlations were seen pre- and post-DS in all GCA parameters. These findings support the use of DS to facilitate GCA testing in anticoagulated individuals for evaluation of the underlying thrombotic state.