The effects of short term ethanol consumption on blood coagulation in the rat

1. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were placed on water (controls) or 10% ethanol (ETOH) for 14 days. A second group of ETOH treated rats were removed from ETOH and placed on water for 7 days. 2. Plasma samples were assayed for various coagulation factors following treatment. 3. Following 2 weeks of ETOH, significant differences were noted for fibrinogen, the platelet count and factors V, VII, VIII, X and XII. After 1 weeks' removal from ETOH, differences were still noted for the platelet count, fibrinogen and factors VII, VIII and XII.