[An anticoagulant from extracts of peony roots: its isolation and properties]

A protein-free anticoagulant preparation displaying anticoagulative but not fibrinolytic activity in vitro was isolated from peony. Electrophoretic, chromatographic, and spectral analyses revealed that this anticoagulant resembles animal heparin: it contains sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen in quantities characteristic of the latter. Plant heparin enhances anticoagulative and fibrinolytic plasma properties and decreases platelet aggregation. It may be used as a harmless and ecologically pure anticoagulant.