Ristocetin and the thrombin clotting time

The addition of the antibiotic ristocetin to plasma accelerated the thrombin clotting time (TCT) in 20 out of 22 subjects. Prior incubation of ristocetin with thrombin or plasma did not alter its effect on the TCT. Ristocetin accelerated clotting greatly at low but not at high levels of thrombin. A simple linear correlation between heparin concentrations and the TCT was demonstrated when ristocetin at 2.5 mg per ml was added to plasma containing between 0.05 and 0.5 unit of heparin per ml. There are implications for assay procedures involving heparin and the TCT.