New evidence for intrinsic blood coagulation in chickens

Coagulation of blood in chickens is considered the result of an extrinsic clotting system initiated, as in mammals, by tissue thromboplastin released from injured tissues. Blood coagulation in mammals depends principally on an intrinsic mechanism in which thromboplastin is generated from blood itself. Only a negligible role, if any, has been ascribed to an intrinsic system in chickens. A reevaluation of intrinsic coagulation in chickens was undertaken in this study. Whole blood of chickens was found to clot over 30% faster when contacted by suitable surface activators such as kaolin or glass than when such contact was omitted. Plasma recalcification times were significantly (P less than .02) shortened by contact activators. Clotting functions were measurable both by partial thromboplastin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, tests that bypass extrinsic factors. Intrinsic thromboplastin could be generated from dilute whole chicken blood although at a slower rate than that reported for human blood. Modification of whole blood thromboplastin generation techniques permitted measurement of activities that seem analogous to human intrinsic factors VIII and IX but not XI or XII. These data provide evidence of a functioning intrinsic clotting mechanism in chickens. A complete description and role for this mechanism remains to be defined.